Big 12 Tournament: Bobby Hurley, out as Arizona State coach, leaves with no regrets

Blair Kerkhoff and PJ Green, The Kansas City Star on Mar 11, 2026

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wednesday spelled coach Bobby Hurley’s final game after 11 seasons at Arizona State, but he was ready to depart with his head held high.

“I haven’t spoken directly about my future, or next year, to this point,” Hurley said shortly before his expected ouster was officially announced. “But I don’t have any regrets.”

After winning their first Big 12 Tournament game, beating Baylor on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center, the Sun Devils were crushed by seventh-ranked Iowa State, 91-42, in a second-round matchup.

Wednesday’s game was about as hideous as it gets. Arizona State missed 19 of 20 3-point attempts, committed 15 of 23 turnovers in the first half and was whistled for three technical fouls — before halftime.

Iowa State’s winning margin of 49 points is a tournament record.

This from an Arizona State team that defeated league powers Kansas and Texas Tech in the final month of the season. The Sun Devils finished the regular season at Iowa State, lost big there, and things got worse in Kansas City.

The outcome dropped the Sun Devils to 17-16, and later Wednesday afternoon ASU announced that Hurley — a feisty point guard on two NCAA championship teams at Duke in the early 1990s — was out.

“I laid it out on the line, the best I could, every night,” he said.

Cincinnati implodes to exit tourney

Eighteen days after beating Kansas, ranked eighth in the country at the time, the Cincinnati Bearcats blew a second-half lead and lost to UCF in overtime at T-Mobile Center.

The Bearcats led by as many as 12 points, but the Knights’ press defense resulted in a cold shooting streak and 19 Cincinnati turnovers. An 8-0 run in the last 2 minutes of regulation tied the game at 58 — Cincy had the ball last in the second half and OT but fell short on two wide open 3-point attempts.

The Bearcats (18-15) were hot in February, winning six of their last nine Big 12 games. Coach Wes Miller hopes this previous momentum propels his team into the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m not in the room with the selection committee, so I don’t understand all the guidelines of it,” Miller said. “But if it’s about the best teams at this point, we’re one of the best teams in the country. Like, we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”