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Arizona State didn’t have much to be happy about after suffering a 104-76 loss at the hands of BYU on Wednesday night. However, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley was able to find a silver lining in the wake of the blowout, as his team left Provo with a moral victory by depriving Cougars fans of free Chick-fil-A.
Bobby Hurley is currently in the midst of his 11th season as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Arizona State, and while his brother Dan has done very well for himself since taking over at UConn, the same can’t be said for his tenure in Tempe.
The 54-year-old skipper headed into the ongoing campaign with a 168-151 record and just four winning seasons under his belt, and all three trips the Sun Devils have made to the NCAA Tournament (the most recent of which came in 2023) have been one-and-done showings.
Arizona State did get off to a 9-2 start this year, but they headed into Wednesday night’s showdown with #9 BYU riding a three-game losing streak that was extended to four after they suffered a lopsided loss on the road.
There weren’t many positive takeaways for the visiting team, but Hurley was able to find one during his postgame press conference.
Bobby Hurley got a consolation prize after Arizona State prevented BYU fans from scoring free Chick-fil-A during a 28-point loss
Chick-fil-A has teamed up with a number of NBA and NCAA teams for the “Fowl Shot” promotion that gives fans extra incentive to get loud when an opposing player steps up to the free-throw line by giving them a coupon for free food if they miss two consecutive shots from the charity stripe.
That is the case at BYU basketball games, and the fans in the student section at the Marriott Center go to great lengths to try to distract players in their quest for free chicken.
nobody:
us when we get free Chick-fil-A because the other team misses free throws: https://t.co/PE71LZXRpF pic.twitter.com/RtLWnSqETi
— BYU Men’s Basketball (@BYUMBB) December 18, 2025
Arizona State made 13 of the 18 free throws it attempted during the 104-76 loss to BYU on Wednesday, but none of its five misses were in succession. Hurley went out of his way to call attention to that reality after the game, as he made it pretty clear that preventing BYU fans from getting Chick-fil-A was one of the only highlights of the night for his squad.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley after the 104-76 loss to BYU: “The one thing we can hang our hat on tonight is that we did stop Chick-fil-a.” pic.twitter.com/oQxuLDlfZw
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 8, 2026
I guess you have to take what you can get.