Hell-bent screams elevated from heavy to rambunctious, reverberating through the cramped hallways. ASU assistant coach Rashon Burno emerged from the ASU locker room with a sly grin plastered between his goatee, quickly shutting the door behind him.

“They got him with the water,” Burno joked to the Sun Devil family members congregated outside the locker room.

It’s become the traditional Bobby Hurley coronation, reserved for only the most marquee victories. They crown Hurley and drench him with liquids only when wins are drastically unforeseen and exceedingly influential.

Saturday was both. And so, Khalid Thomas and Andre Allen stood behind the door frame and emptied a five-gallon cooler on the head of their 48-year old coach as he strutted into the celebration.

At last, Hurley could celebrate something this season. Before the refreshments ran down his white dress shirt and onto the carpeting, not much had come easy or been worth praise. The Sun Devils had lost twice by more than 25, their whole roster seemed to be in a shooting slump and even the most optimistic weren’t envisioning a third straight NCAA Tournament.

That’s what makes the upset of Arizona so glorified. ASU’s 66-65 victory over the 22nd-ranked Wildcats was, in 40 minutes of play, Arizona State’s way of disproving the team it had been for the past 18 games.

It played ferocious and energetic defense on three of the conference’s most-talented pieces in Nico Mannion, Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji. Even when shots weren’t falling -- which was most of the game -- the Sun Devils continued to move the ball, put up clean looks and play as a team. And when they trailed -- by as many as 22 -- they roared back with a vengeance.

To finish it off, guard Alonzo Verge cut past Ira Lee and sprung up from the center of the paint. He leaped to his right, with the ball in his right hand, and flicked in an up-and-under layup past the outstretched arm of Arizona guard Dylan Smith.

The shot just may change Arizona State’s season.

ALONZO VERGE:

“I just saw an opportunity, really. I couldn’t come off the screen -- they were hedging the screen the whole game so I couldn’t come off the screen,” Verge said of his game-winning shot. “My opponent thought I was coming off the screen, so I denied it. I split it and I just saw the open lane and I took it.”

Before nearly every game, Alonzo Verge goes up to his 6-foot-8, 245-pound teammate to tell him how good he feels. Romello White tells the story like the older sibling describing his naive little brother who thinks he can beat him up.

“Most of the time he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m feeling great tonight,’ and I’m like, ‘We gonna see,’” White said with a chuckle. “And then (after the game) he looked at me and told me, ‘I told you so.’ I mean, he was right.”

On Saturday against Arizona’s vaunted backcourt, Verge was clutch. During the other parts of Saturday, he wasn’t exactly efficient. The junior college transfer tallied 13 points but missed nine shots (6 of 15) and only went to the free-throw line once.

That’s the thing about Verge, though, he’ll never lose any confidence. He’s got a 43-point game under his belt this year, so of course, he’s going to continue to throw up attempts -- no matter how many times he’s off the mark. On Saturday, it paid off for ASU.

“It’s good for us, we need that. He got into a groove for us tonight,” forward Mickey Mitchell said of Verge’s never-waning confidence. “That’s how he is. If you watch him in practice, every shot he takes, he takes it the same way. He doesn’t shy away from shots.”

REMY MARTIN:

“The initial play was for Rob because they were messing up the guard-to-guard switch,” Martin said. “I was going to drive the guard-to-guard switch but I saw Rob late. So I threw it to Rob and he didn’t have anything, which is not bad -- he didn’t force anything. He kicked it to Zo, and that’s what the thing about this Guard-U Arizona State is: Everybody can make plays.”

In the final seconds of the first half, Arizona guard Max Hazzard missed a layup, a shot intended to send the game to break.

It clunked off the rim. Rob Edwards corralled it and chucked it ahead to forward Jalen Graham from midcourt. The freshman leaped from around the third stripe and tipped it up for a quasi-alley-oop layup off the fingertips of Remy Martin.

The basket cut ASU’s deficit to a manageable 13 and sent the Sun Devils to the locker room on a 6-0 run. It was just enough positivity for Martin to inject into his team, to use as proof there was hope for a miracle.

He ignited the effort, scoring the first seven points of the second half. It took nearly five minutes for U of A to get on the board in the final frame and, by that point, the Sun Devils weren’t going away. Martin’s energy wouldn’t allow it.

“That’s Remy Martin. He’s been like that since he was a freshman,” White said. “He’s a dawg. He’s a warrior, always has been. We know when we’re down, we can count on him to bring us back.”

JALEN GRAHAM:

“The first play we ran (intended for Rob) didn’t work so we gave it to Zo,” Graham said. “He told me to set him a screen and he turned it down. He went a little up-and-under. I thought he was going to miss so I jumped. I was like, ‘Oh, God.’ I was about to try and get the putback and then he made it and we all went crazy.”

With just under two minutes to play and ASU down one, Hurley threw his freshman forward into the game. That wasn’t the plan. Or ideal. Seconds earlier, White dove on a loose ball and was whistled for his fifth foul.

On Saturday, White’s absence didn’t loom like a skyscraper. Take away Graham’s debut game -- a six-point performance against Colorado with White suspended -- his performance against Arizona was the most impressive version of Graham ASU has seen.

He netted just a quartet of points, but reeled in seven rebounds and dished seven assists. More impressive than all of that, he was a menace to Nnaji in the paint. In the second half, Arizona’s stud freshman only scored eight points and committed three turnovers.

“His presence, he was just there. He was grabbing boards, contesting at the rim, he was running the court,” Edwards said. “Once Mello fouled out, coach trusted him and he came in and did what he had to do to help us win.

Added Mitchell: “I’m so proud of him … It’s just a small part of what he can do. He’s a very good big. I think he’s going to be very good.”

BOBBY HURLEY:

“You’re always torn. We had a play we wanted to get where Remy and Rob were in the ball screen again together, and Rob didn’t force anything or take a bad shot. He got it to Zo and the court was wide open. You could see that there were driving lanes available and his eyes probably lit up when he saw that. He’s got a great handle, he’s a playmaker. He went out and made a big play.”

Hurley is usually the first to take his turn at the podium. On Saturday, his players were the initial members of the media’s questioning. Hurley needed to shed his water-logged suit, opting for a black ASU hoodie instead.

He hopes he’s forced to do that more often.

“It was special. Any time that happens they’re welcome to do that,” Hurley said. “It shows a lot of heart … They attacked the last 25 minutes of the game and dominated the last 25 minutes.”

The only worry this victory created for Hurley is Saturday’s rivalry victory being the peak of ASU’s season. It was an incredible comeback and an even more improbable victory. But it still only bumps them the middle of the conference and to the Top 80 of KenPom’s rankings.

In essence, the Sun Devils still have a mighty hill to climb simply to boost themselves to a fringe NCAA Tournament team.

“This can’t be the top of the mountain for us this year,” Hurley said. “We have to now try and make a surge off of this.”