TUCSON – The chants rocked the McKale Center.

“Bobby, Bobby, Bobby!”

When he came out of the tunnel.

“Bobby!”

When he argued a call.

“Bobby!”

When he picked up a technical foul.

“Bobby!”

Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley is used to being the center of attention, particularly in his time as a player at Duke. Thursday night, he was forced to sit and stand there as the 14,644 Arizona fans chanted his name on the way to a dominant 91-75 victory.

This was to be expected when Hurley was hired two years ago. In fact, it’s part of why ASU hired him. But here’s hoping that someday – particularly soon – Hurley’s name can have company.

Just look at the No. 16-ranked Wildcats (16-2, 5-0 Pac-12), the team that thrashed the Sun Devils (9-9, 2-3) from start to finish on Saturday night.

They led from wire to wire, jumping out to a 12-0 lead and pouncing on Hurley’s squad before they could even gather themselves.

“That’s a different type of environment, something we haven’t really seen this season outside of San Diego State,” junior guard Tra Holder said. “It took us some time to get our feet wet.”

Even while once again being without star Allonzo Trier, the Wildcats were deeper, taller, and just flat-out better than their competition. Four different players hit double-digits, none shining brighter than freshman Lauri Markkanen.

The 7-footer had his best game as a Wildcat, hitting 12 of his 18 shots and going 4-for-7 on 3-pointers to total a career-high 30 points to go with eight boards. He shot effortlessly over opponents who stood inches shorter than him, even driving and pounding the ball inside with ease.

“Markkanen can hurt you in so many different ways, with his shooting, going off the dribble, the tip-ins,” Hurley said. “He’s a very, very complete basketball player. His game is very advanced.”

Kadeem Allen would add 18 points to go with Dusan Ristic’s 16 and Kobi Simmons’ 13, showing a balanced attack ASU could only hope to match while also locking the Sun Devils down.

The Wildcats held ASU to 25 points in the first half – its third-lowest first-half output of the season – while forcing the Sun Devils to shoot 0-for-9 on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. It was the first time this season ASU had been shut out on 3s in a half.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do on offense,” Hurley said. “We’re at a disadvantage most of the time with our size, and to go 0-for-9 on 3s in the first half is not going to help us. We needed to shoot better, and we didn’t. Everyone was a part of that. It wasn’t one guy.”

ASU rallied in the second, hitting 10 of 18 3-pointers and cutting the lead to as close as 12, but they could never get through. They just didn’t have the talent or the bodies.

Senior forward Obinna Oleka nearly powered his way to a double-double with a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Holder added 20 of his own in an efficient shooting night. Redshirt senior Torian Graham, despite some pregame controversy with an Arizona fan, was positively impactful with his 18 points.

But those are just solid performances from solid players. For ASU to get where it wants to and aspires to be, it needs to be about more than just Bobby Hurley.

It needs a star.

Those don’t come overnight, however. Recruiting classes help, sure. Kimani Lawrence, Remy Martin and Kenny Wooten should be quality additions. But in order to take the leap, the Sun Devils need to hope Hurley can swing another name to join him, then another, and a few more to go with it to even approach what their in-state rival has accomplished.

Until then, he just has to make do with what he has – a scrappy, undersized and at times ill-equipped squad that will still battle like hell for their coach.

“I told [Hurley] that I got his back,” Holder said of the relentless “Bobby!” chants.

For this season, in the long-term picture, it should be enough.