About five minutes into the second half, a scrum formed on the Arizona State bench, as nearly the entire TCU bench had made its way to its opponent’s bench, highlighted by ASU head coach Bobby Hurley wiping out on the floor.

Despite the words exchanged and nearly 10 minutes of review time, the officials ejected just one player, TCU sophomore center Mallick Diallo, who hasn’t played since the first game of the season against New Orleans, and was in street clothes.

During the review, the Sun Devil bench looked fired up, hoping to use this as momentum to take control of the game, trailing 46-41 with 14:55 left.

However, that would not happen, as ASU (14-14, 5-10 Big 12) fell behind the Horned Frogs (18-10, 8-7 Big 12) quickly following the resumption of play, and although the Sun Devils tried to make it interesting at the end, they were unable to and lost 90-78 on Tuesday, Feb 24. at Schollmaier Arena. ASU came cold out of the gate, and although they improved, turnovers and missed 3-pointers proved to be costly.

This game repeated what’s been seen in many Sun Devils losses this season. A solid first half kept the game within striking distance, but by the time the final 20 minutes began, they were unable to keep up with the adjustments their opponent made and came up well short.

It was a similar story to Saturday, Feb 21, when ASU was about 90 minutes south of Fort Worth playing Baylor. Hurley’s squad played inspired ball in the opening half, and although the game was within striking distance, they made mistakes not seen in the first 20 minutes, which led to a heartbreaking loss.

In Wednesday's game, the Sun Devil offense didn’t see much life until the second half. Senior guard Moe Odum had a quiet first half, but like most of the season, he had to carry the load for ASU in the second half, finishing with 16 points and tallying 21 on the night.

Senior guard Anthony “Pig” Johnson continued his work off the bench for the Sun Devils, putting up 18 points on 60% shooting from the field. However, like many ASU players, he found himself in foul trouble.

The Sun Devils committed 29 fouls on the night, and the Horned Frogs finished with 40 free-throw attempts, knocking down 28 of them.

Of the nine players that appeared in the game, eight had at least two fouls, and four players tallied at least four fouls on the night. Freshman center Massamba Diop was the only player who reached the 5-mark and had to sit.

After an upset win over No. 13 Texas Tech in the week prior, there was hope that if the cards fell right, ASU had a chance to make a case for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.

However, with the last two losses, any slim chances are likely over, barring a miraculous run in the upcoming Big 12 tournament.

With the sky once again falling, all eyes are back on Hurley and what the future holds for him. There is still no decision regarding his future, but it seems he could be approaching his final days in Tempe.

ASU will head back to Tempe this Saturday, on Feb 28, to host Utah in a rematch after defeating the team in Salt Lake City a few weeks back. After that, the Sun Devils will finish the season against two ranked teams in No. 14 Kansas on March 3 and No. 4 Iowa State on March 7.