Bobby Hurley Shares Humorous Takeaway After No. 9 BYU Crushes ASU
Jan 8, 2026, 9:45 AM
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball handed Bobby Hurley and his Arizona State Sun Devils a blowout loss at the Marriott Center on Wednesday night.
The ninth-ranked Cougars crushed ASU 104-76. It’s Arizona State’s fourth consecutive loss after starting the year with a 9-2 record.
Hurley’s squad is now 9-6 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play.
Bobby Hurley was happy to prevent BYU fans from getting Chick-fil-A
After the game at the Marriott Center, the 11th-year Sun Devil head coach struggled to find a positive in his team, but he did find a humorous one.
“The only thing that I think we can hang our hat on leaving here is tonight is that we did stop Chick-fil-A for the students,” said Hurley.
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During the second half of BYU basketball home games this season, if an opposing team misses two free throws, the arena gets free Chick-fil-A. Those attempts take place in front of BYU’s student section, The ROC.
In a game where BYU was in complete control, the 18,009 Cougar fans in attendance didn’t have much to stress about in the second half, other than the chance to get free Chick-fil-A. The Sun Devils didn’t let that happen as they knocked down nine of their 13 free throw attempts in the second half.
Hurley was also complimentary of BYU’s top three players in Richie Saunders, Rob Wright, and AJ Dybantsa.
Impressed with BYU basketball’s star players
Saunders put up a career-high 31 points, Wright dropped 27, and freshman star Dybantsa added another 23 to combine for 81 points, outscoring the Sun Devils.
“Credit to BYU, how they’ve grown as a program and where they are. I’ve been out west for a number of years, and to see the product they put out on the floor, you guys should be very proud of it. They not only have talent, but they play really hard, and they seem to play together the right way. Anytime you get three guys that outscore our whole team, that’s a problem for us.”
BYU basketball moves forward in the season with a rivalry matchup against Utah on Saturday night at the Huntsman Center.
For Arizona State, Hurley and his squad look to end their four-game skid against Kansas State in Tempe on Saturday.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
