SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley hasn’t had much to smile about during non-conference play this season.

Yet, as he emerged from a roaring locker room to speak to the media Saturday at Viejas Arena, he couldn’t hide the grinning expression on his face.

In many ways, the Sun Devils’ (6-4) 74-63 road comeback win over the 4-4 Aztecs could be seen as a turning point in their season. They trailed by seven at the half and tossed the ball all around the court to the tune of 13 turnovers. Shots wouldn’t fall in the first half as they hit 37.5 percent of their attempts from the floor, and while the defense appeared to hold the Aztecs looked primed to open things up in front of a raucous crowd.

“Down seven [at the half] in an environment like this isn’t bad,” junior guard Shannon Evans II said. “This is one of the best places I’ve played in, to be honest. I’ve been in Rupp Arena, being in a lot of places and that’s a nice little arena, but this is something special. Being down seven at half wasn’t really bad.”

Then, the ASU defense finally started to translate to the other end of the floor. Evans hit a 3-pointer, followed by junior guard Tra Holder and junior Kodi Justice doing the same to knot things up at 34 apiece. After Holder’s transition layup gave ASU its first lead with 16:55 remaining, the Sun Devils would not lose grip.

“Right out of the gate, Shannon [Evans] hit one and Kodi [Justice] hit one and Tra [Holder],” Hurley said. “We had a couple guys make some shots early in the second half that helped.”

Each push the Aztecs had would have an immediate ASU counter, as the Sun Devils showed the guile their head coach thought was clearly lacking in a 97-63 loss to Purdue at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic on Monday.

They silenced the crowd of 12,414 at Viejas Arena, handing the Aztecs their first three-game losing streak in a 126-game stretch. In doing so, they may have also saved the early part of this season.

“We were at a gut check point in the season early, for us, just because of the difficulty in our schedule and our competition. We knew this was an all-in game for us and for San Diego State. We knew how much this would mean to them.”

Saturday’s performance was reminiscent of another road win over a marquee Mountain West opponent in the Hurley era, a comeback win over UNLV last season where the Sun Devils overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat the Runnin’ Rebels, 66-56.

“We’d had a couple of other good wins under our belt, but[it was similar] in terms of us struggling offensively in the first half and then locking down in the second half,” Hurley said. “Even more so, I think we defended for both halves, regardless of how we played offense in the first half. We kept ourselves in the game even though we weren’t very efficient in that end.”

Added senior forward Obinna Oleka: “The environment was the same as last year at UNLV. I feel like we battled back last year too, and just battled through that adversity.”

Some of the factors were different. Last season, the Sun Devils entered that game fresh off a blowout loss to Kentucky but still in the midst of what would eventually be a promising 10-2 non-conference stretch. This year, the Sun Devils were still without a marquee win outside of a 3-point barrage against UNLV at home. Following blowout losses to Kentucky and Purdue – both of which are top-15 opponents – Hurley questioned the team, calling them “soft” and questioning their heart.

They responded.

“Intensity,” Evans said of what changed. “We kind of got back to just being a blue-collar team, being hungry, being humble and stopped worrying about other things than intensity and defense and playing for each other.”

The Sun Devils also had other motivations for the increased intensity. They, of course, wanted to avoid the wrath of another week of practice that some said were more suited for a track squad than a basketball program.

“We had five days off until our next game, and we’re on break, so we knew what he could do to us,” Evans said. “There’s no [practice] time limit when you’re on break, so we had that in the back of our minds. We knew in the back of our minds that if we lose this one, we were going to be in for a long one.”

Perhaps Hurley made a mistake with another ravaging non-conference schedule this season, which forced the Sun Devils to hit the east coast three times in the span of a month and consistently put his team in difficult matchups. Things don’t get much each with the three remaining home non-conference opponents, with New Mexico State, Creighton and Central Arkansas coming into town. Creighton figures to be a top-10 program when they roll into town, becoming the highest-ranked non-conference opponent at Wells Fargo Arena in decades.

These games could see the Sun Devils revert to old habits and define their season. Either that, or Hurley might have found something in his team Saturday night in San Diego.

“Hopefully this is a turning point for us,” Hurley said. “Hopefully we’ve found something to move forward with the rest of the year.”