Bobby Hurley connects with former Sun Devils before game at Kansas

On By Littum

ASU basketball heads back to Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since head coach Bobby Hurley’s program shocked then-No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks more than seven years ago.

As he prepared to face the Jayhawks’ No. 11 on Tuesday, Hurley looked back at the memorable 95-85 upset win for a confidence boost and caught up with the Sun Devils who starred in it.

“It was great for me to talk to Shannon Evans, Kodi Justice and Tra Holder over the weekend because I watched Kansas beat UCF by 50 points on Sunday and I needed to pick myself up,” Hurley shared. Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday. “I needed a confidence booster. So talking to those guys gave me a big boost.”

Holder and Evans combined for 51 points in that game, pushing ASU to 9-0 and into a No. 5th place. Now Arizona State is conference foes with Kansas, and a new generation of Sun Devils is getting the chance to perform on one of the biggest stages in college basketball.

That includes freshman standout Jayden Quaintance, who Hurley said has been pretty untouched in his freshman season.

“I mean, at Gonzaga, he was really good in the Florida game. When we played the exhibition at Duke, he was our best player in that game,” Hurley said. “So in some of these big games, he’s really shown up and he has played against great competition throughout his life, albeit a fairly short one. He’s only 17. It’s funny, when we won here seven years ago, I think Jayden was 10 years old.”

Freshman sharpshooter Joson Sanon’s availability will be determined before the game due to an ankle problem.

Quaintance and the Sun Devil defense will have their hands full in the paint with Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, who scored 27 points in KU’s 99-48 win over UCF on Sunday.

Kansas outscored UCF 62-10 in the game Hurley shared with his team and said helping the bigs down low will be a priority.

Among other keys he brought up, limiting the turnover and simply overworking the Jayhawks is what he’s looking for. In December 2017, the Sun Devils forced more turnovers, drew more fouls and competed on the boards despite a size disadvantage.

“We have to play harder than them,” Hurley said. “They got like a million 50-50 balls against UCF. And if we allow them to win that part of the game, it’s going to be a long night on the road.”

ASU is coming off a 20-point win over Colorado without Sanon. Both teams enter the game 10-3 with a 1-1 Big 12 record. Kansas is 7-1 at home.

The game tips off at 7pm on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.