It's time to take another step forward.
Bobby Hurley is sending that message to his Arizona State men's basketball team as it moves into the home-friendly phase of the Pac-12 schedule. The Sun Devils (9-11, 2-4 Pac-12) play seven of their remaining 11 regular-season games at Wells Fargo Arena starting Wednesday against Washington (9-10, 2-5).
Like in football, there is a separation developing between the top half of the conference and the bottom. ASU believes it can finish as high as seventh, which would be a meaningful improvement over 11th in Hurley's first season, but to do so requires getting on a bigger roll than the Sun Devils have managed so far (two straight wins being the high).