The best month of the year for college basketball fans has finally arrived, and it could not come at a better time for the Arizona State Sun Devils. The team’s seven-game win streak that started February 1, and greater stretch of nine wins in its past 10 games, came to a crashing halt last weekend in getting swept at the Los Angeles schools.

ASU was defeated on a literal last-second three at UCLA before suffering a 10-point loss at USC less than 48 hours later, on the final day of the year’s shortest month. The Sun Devils had a chance to win both contests, cutting the deficit at USC to one with seven minutes left, but were ultimately outlasted on the road.

Interestingly, coach Bobby Hurley showed no signs of being mad at the team’s play this past weekend. After all, those two programs are fighting for their NCAA tournament lives much more than ASU at the moment and one is tied for the second-best overall record in the conference (USC) while the other currently has the top conference record (UCLA, now winners of seven straight themselves).

“We played fairly well, especially against UCLA, so I wasn’t disappointed in them,” Hurley said. “We left USC in agreement that we went all in on both games, I had no problem with how we competed…we had an advantage going into that week, and it’s hard to win on the road in the Pac-12 this year. It’s a great league, and that’s why there are so many teams in the conversation for the NCAA tournament.”

This season ASU is in the thick of that conversation more so than just being on the bubble as in recent seasons. However, this last pair of games could significantly swing the Sun Devils trajectory one way or the other.

A sweep of the Washington schools at home to finish the regular season should lock up ASU’s berth in the big dance, steering clear of a third straight First Four appearance regardless of their conference tournament result. Splitting the two games makes a win or two in the conference tournament much more important to avoid the First Four, while getting swept would make multiple wins necessary.

But as Hurley reminded his team following Tuesday’s practice, the team must focus on the goals they can still accomplish before thinking about the NCAA tournament.

“I’m going to try to do everything I can and leave no regrets and hold nothing back and try to get these two wins so that we could be in a good position,” senior guard Rob Edwards said. “Like coach said before we broke off after practice (Tuesday) we still have a chance to at least tie for first place and win a conference championship.”

Since becoming a member of the Pac-10/12, ASU has never finished at the top of the conference at the end of the regular season or won a conference tournament. A pair of wins this weekend would seal a third-place finish, guaranteeing a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament next week.

“The percentages and the numbers don’t say that it’s something that is in your best interest to be outside of that top four (in the conference standings),” Hurley said. “It’s hard to win four days in a row. So, you put yourself in a much stronger position to have a chance to win a championship if you’re able to have that additional day.”

Much more was discussed ahead of the regular season’s final weekend. Here are some of the highlights.

Improved defense and play from White, Verge key in righting the ship

Although Hurley expressed how pleased he was with the team’s overall effort despite being swept this past weekend in L.A, he’s not being unrealistically positive about the consecutive losses.

For starters, he pointed to the team’s first-half defense in both contests as a problem that must be fixed if they hope to take care of business this weekend and extend their season far beyond that.

“We got to rely on our defense,” Hurley said. “If you could nitpick a negative, for me, just was our first half defense in both games on the road. Just giving up 41 points (in each first half), that’s too many. We need to do a better job of defending, especially when your season’s on the line, and that’s coming up real soon.

“You got to be able to count on your defense, you’re not always going to make shots, and we’ve done that this year. We’ve had games we shot it well, we’ve had games we couldn’t make a shot, we’ve still managed to find a way to win. So, definitely have to tighten some things up at that end of the floor.”

On the offensive end, the Sun Devils issues with ball movement and overdribbling seemed to resurface, especially in the USC loss Saturday. One way to mitigate this could’ve been getting the ball more to junior forward Romello White in the post, as he had his lowest combined scoring total in a conference series (13 points) other than his six combined points against Arizona, which came in two matchups separated by several weeks.

This poor performance was certainly self-inflicted to an extent on White’s end, as he combined to shoot 4-for-14 from the field over those two games, far below his season average that has hung around 60 percent. Still, Hurley admitted that with how both games were flowing, particularly at USC, they should’ve made more of an effort to involve him.

“There were some times that he could’ve got touches, and he probably should’ve gotten them,” Hurley said. “That’s a game where we got to have a better feel for that. If we’re going to be 8-for-29 from three, we got to figure out that we got to get it inside and see if Romello could make it happen there down low.”

For the record, ASU was actually 7-for-29 from deep, and an off weekend from second-leading scorer in junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. did nothing to help that. He missed all four threes he took Saturday, combining for only 18 points on the weekend—a total he’s matched or surpassed more often than not over the win streak.

Hurley knows it’s unjust to be too critical of Verge with all that his emergence has done for the team’s season, but he made it clear how they’ll need him to bounce back if they are to win several more games as they hope.

“He went solo too many times (Saturday),” Hurley said. “There were a couple of opportunities he had to get it to someone else; I think there was one time Romello has a good matchup and he could’ve hit him with a bounce pass, and he didn’t.

“So, there were a couple of examples that we could point out to him. But he’s been so good lately that it’s hard to be overcritical, but we talked about some things that he can improve on and work on this week.”

Mitchell, Edwards reflect on highlights of ASU careers

Senior weekend is always a great time for departing players to reflect on their time with their program ahead of thier final home games. Tuesday was no different for Edwards and senior forward Mickey Mitchell, who are ASU’s most prominent players with no eligibility left following this season.

For Edwards, he knows he’ll always have lots to work on in getting better on the court. It’s off the court where he feels that he’s grown the most since stepping foot in Tempe.

“My personality, more mature,” Edwards answered when asked about his greatest area of evolution in the past few years. “Just having a voice, and guys listening instead of having to listen to coach, or coach having to get on a guy or talk to everybody. I will put my arm around somebody and just talk to them, and help them out with anything that they need—(Mickey) too—knowing that we’ve been here the longest and we’re older guys and we’ve been through a lot.”

These two guys specifically have certainly put their bodies through a lot for ASU, as each dealt with back injuries and resulting surgery at overlapping times and had to bounce back both physically and mentally. Mitchell revealed that he and Edwards got closer as a result of their ailments, although they already had a strong bond before that.

They also both seem to agree that there were positives to come out of that adversity they each dealt with.

“I reflect on it a good amount of times,” Mitchell said. “It’s just nice being where we are right now and being healthy. One of the things I’ve learned this year is just—I mean I’ve been learning this, but what I’ve really gotten good at this year is how to take care of my body. Whether it’s treatment, or eating the right way, or just knowing when enough is enough for me. Just listening to my body, I think that’s something I reflect on a lot.”

Edwards admitted the injury forced him to eat healthier to keep his physical shape, and also believes it changed their mindset on the court for the better.

“I feel like it just made us hungrier, more humble and put a chip on our shoulder,” Edwards said. “We’ve been healthy ever since…we’re just ready for the future like (Mitchell) said, and just putting ourselves in the best position possible.”

One last thing that Mitchell brought up that has helped not only each individual but the program be in a better position has been the family atmosphere Hurley helps create.

“Being around these guys this year has taught me a lot,” Mitchell said. “It’s very competitive on the court when we’re practicing, but off the court, we’re all really good friends, we all hang out, whenever we go to coach’s house for lunch or whatever. It’s just a family thing, and it’s just how this program’s going to be now, it’s just the culture of this and how we’ve turned it.”

This is hardly anything Sun Devil fans haven’t heard before, but it’s always nice confirmation to hear anecdotal evidence to back the positive perceptions of Hurley and the chemistry of the program overall.

Sun Devils preparing to shift gears for postseason

There’s no tangible way to identify it, but teams who have legendary postseasons are able to step up their level of play, oftentimes more so than they did at any point in the regular season and it all starts with mindset.

Of course, the two-time national champion Hurley would know a thing or two about this and has been doing his best to impart his wisdom upon the team.

“It’s just what you work for, really,” Hurley said. “I’m trying to just let our team know that this is why you’ve worked so hard in July and the offseason to get better, and why we’ve gone through all these battles this year, to approach this as this is a great thing, this is exciting. The position we’re in, things we can still accomplish…it’s been a life-changer for me as a player, these tournaments that I’ve been a part of in my past.”

Also giving ASU confidence is the experience the team has on its roster from upperclassman players who have been part of the postseason journeys in the past two years. More than anyone, Hurley cited junior point guard Remy Martin, albeit never mentioning him by name.

“I think it’s very important, especially at key positions,” Hurley said. “At the point guard position in tournaments, a lot of the plays that are made are going to determine your fate, and if you have a guy at that position that is exceptional as a playmaker, and a decision-maker, and a winner, and knows how to get those things done, your odds improve. Then I just think Romello is a rock inside for us, very dependable.

“So, I think it starts with those two guys. Then just having Mickey Mitchell, that I think is generating so much more trust with all of us. Just how he’s coming on and doing a lot of the little things, and of course Rob’s picking it up offensively, and ‘Zo (Verge). So, we have a lot of things working in our favor, we just got to put it all together and we just can’t afford to have a bad day.”