Arizona State men's basketball team looks to put trouble with officials behind it

After a controversial and disappointing loss to UCLA, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley felt the need to try something new. His team was called for four technical fouls in that contest, serving as the catalyst for a 68-66 loss in a game the Sun Devils led by double digits before unraveling.

He addressed his team about the issue after the game, then instituted a new protocol for ensuing practices. There would be no complaining about any foul called when the team scrimmaged. A zero tolerance policy.

Hurley said if anything needed to be said to an official during a game, he would take care of it.

"We implemented this thing in practice where you talk back, yell, anything, you get a technical foul," junior forward Bryant Selebangue said. "The team talking would get the foul, kind of emulating the game. You don't have to talk back to the ref, you don't have to complain, you don't have to say anything. Just so you know when the crucial moments come, we can't pick up those techs."

The tactic seems to have worked. In the next game the Sun Devils disposed of USC 82-67 in one of their better performances of the season. No players were assessed a technical but Hurley did pick up one in the first half. He disputed a play in which an official called a tie up after ASU's Jamiya Neal stole the ball and a USC player reached in to try and get the ball back and clearly fouled Neal. Television commentators handling the broadcast saw the play the same way Hurley did.

It was good for the Sun Devils to right the ship before heading into difficult waters this week, but the Sun Devils fell at Oregon 80-61 in the first half of their Pacific Northwest road trip on Thursday. It was a game in which ASU showed the same restraint it had in the USC contest.

ASU (11-8, 56-3) will play Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis.

"It was the ultimate brutal wake up call to lose the way we did, playing what we felt was a winning basketball performance but things outside of basketball prevented us from winning basketball game," Hurley said. "It forced everyone to just to say, `OK guys, we're not talking to officials any more. We're not talking to our opponent any more. Let's just talk to each other.' Now can we be perfect in that regard the rest of the way? I don't know. That remains to be seen. I do know that was a focal point of our conversations internally going into the USC game."

Much of the controversy related to these calls surrounds official Tony Padilla, who was part of the trio working successive ASU games at Washington and home against UCLA, both of which the Sun Devils lost. ASU is 5-0 in Pac-12 games in which Padilla was not part of the crew.

It is nearly impossible to tell if Padilla made all the calls or if another referee might have assessed one technical, but the crew called ASU for seven technicals in those two games alone. In total, Padilla has worked five ASU games and he and that particular crew has called ASU for nine technicals. The Sun Devils have been called for a total of 15 in the season's 19 games.

The worst offender has been Alonzo Gaffney, who has drawn four. Hurley, the fiery coach in his ninth season, has drawn just two.

Keeping emotions in check is going to have to be of utmost importance moving forward with the Sun Devils surprisingly near the top of the conference standings.

Another example of emotions getting out of hand came in December when ASU squared off against TCU in Fort Worth. The Sun Devils led 30-26 at the half and were up 38-37 with 13:32 left in the game when Gaffney was called for a technical foul. He was on the bench in foul trouble at the time and that counted as his fifth foul, meaning he was done for the night.

Hurley then drew one, and the resulting four made free throws gave the Horned Frogs a 41-38 lead. TCU had the ball on the possession for the infractions and hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 44-38. That burst started a 22-2 run and ASU was left in the dust.

The hope is that seeing the success the team can have when focused on the task at hand will pay off. It seemed to be the case in the USC victory, which came in front of a raucous home crowd.

"We showed quite a bit more maturity and discipline in that game and just focused on playing basketball and executing. It was a beautiful thing to watch." Hurley said.

All credit junior point guard Frankie Collins for being the voice of reason on the court. He stepped in when Selebangue was assessed one of those technicals in the UCLA game and said something to the big man. Selebangue apologized for picking up that foul when he met with the media this week.

"He told me, 'We don't need that. Come on Bryant. This is a crucial moment. We don't need that right now. Lock in, lock in.' Selebangue said. "He's a great leader. He's always going to tell it to you straight. He's not going to beat around the bush. He might yell at you, just to get that message across but he cares."

Hurley doubled own on his point guard's role in getting the Sun Devils back on track.

"He's at peace with himself, in a really good pace with his confidence and production. The more you produce and play well, you have more ability to lead and people will generally listen to you more," Hurley said.

"Frankie is smart about what he does. He reacted to a call I think during the USC game. As he went toward the ref, he put a big smile on his face and started communicating. Just like how you handle those situations, I think he's got a good feel. So I need more of that. We need more internal leadership on the floor and I think Frankie has put himself in the position of having the respect of the coaching staff and his teammates to do that."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU basketball team looks to put trouble with officials behind it