Bobby Hurley did not enjoy his team’s return to Duke: ‘We got our ass kicked’

DURHAM, N.C. — On Sunday night, Bobby Hurley returned to Duke for the first time since his daughter Cameron graduated six years ago.
During his trip back to the school he led to back-to-back NCAA championships in the early 1990s, Hurley enjoyed taking a few runs around campus, eating some quality barbecue and meeting with Coach K.
What he didn’t enjoy was watching his Arizona State basketball team get drilled, 103-47, by a loaded Duke squad featuring projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg. The exhibition game was dubbed “The Brotherhood Run” and featured Hurley, Duke coach Jon Scheyer and legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski posing for pictures before tip-off.
“We got our ass kicked, and it was with them having their All-American and best player [Flagg] playing like half the game.” Hurley said. “So hats off to where they are and oh s–t about where we are right now.”
He added: “My granddaughter is never going to remember this game, Thank God. She’s three months old.”
After out-scoring the Sun Devils 37-21 in the first half, the Blue Devils routed their visitors by 40 points in the second half by making 15-of-23 from deep. On a night when Flagg shot just 3-of-9 for 9 points with a slew of NBA scouts in the building, six Duke players reached double-figures. Kon Knueppel, the 6-foot-7 freshman from Milwaukee who has gained steam as a potential first-round pick, shot 4-of-8 from deep and scored 19 points. Caleb Foster scored 17 for Duke, which shot 17-of-34 from beyond the arc.
“They are showing some very good components,” Hurley told NJ Advance Media. “They can attack the paint and they got multiple guys that can hit threes. So anytime you have that, you gotta worry about the dunks and the lobs and the paint, and you got guys behind the line it’s like pick your poison so [Scheyer] has got a lot of weapons on offense.
“And then defensively, they play hard, they play really hard.”
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Flagg didn’t have to do too much in this one. He finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 21 minutes.
“For me, the shots is never the part that I’m worried about,” he told NJ Advance Media. “However many shots I get, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m trying to just play in the flow of the game. I know the coaches are on me a little bit about passing up some open ones today, so just being shot-ready when I catch is something I have to continue going forwarrd and I gotta take what they give me.
“But I’m trying to play in the flow of the game. Kon was hot tonight, so I just gave him the ball when he’s hot. We have a ton of really talented players, so making the right play on every possession.”
Hurley, who was the No. 7 pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, said of Flagg: “He looks like the real deal to me.”
Hurley, the Jersey City native and older brother of UConn coach Dan Hurley, who is bidding for a three-peat in college basketball, rattled of a few good one-liners after the loss.
“I had a really good lunch [Saturday] at Bullock’s Bar-B-Que, it was fantastic,” he said of his return to campus. “I saw Coach K [Saturday] night. I spent a good amount of time with him, that was another great moment. I ran both days on the Duke golf course, I used to run there when I played here so that was great. Everything I else I think speaks for itself.
“I don’t know if I have to go into a lot of detail about this, it was a train wreck, it’s a good word, maybe. The only bright side for us is that we’re 0-0 and still.”
Hurley’s team was picked 12th in its first year in the now-16-team Big 12 and has hopes of making the Big Dance, but the coach knows there’s a lot of work to do.
“I don’t think I’ll have guys wondering why they’re not starting in the opener [Nov. 5 against Idaho State],” Hurley said. “I don’t think I’ll have guys worried about shot attempts. I think by the end of this week hopefully we’ll learn something from this.”
Hurley singled out his 17-year-old freshman big man Jayden Quaintance as the only one of his players who “belonged in that game.” The 6-9 Quaintance, who committed to Arizona State after decommitting from Kentucky, finished with 11 points and 6 boards.
“He didn’t look out of place out there,” Hurley said. “His motor, his movement, his activity, that was a positive.”
Hurley also praised Scheyer, who is in his third season at Duke and has a team capable of a deep run in March.
“Jon is doing a great job here, just seeing it first hand with the commitment they have to guarding and guarding with physicality and multiple efforts, and all the things that we decided not to do,” Hurley said.
For his part, Scheyer said it was an honor having Hurley back at Duke.
“I thought it was a special night having Bobby Hurley here,” he said.
The season hasn’t begun, but Scheyer likes what he saw with so much balanced scoring.
“I do think this team has a chance to be really good,” Scheyer said.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.