The Arizona State basketball team has been so short-handed that coach Bobby Hurley and assistant Anthony Coleman have had to serve as stand-ins with the scout team when the Sun Devils are practicing.
The situation hasn't improved much, with the Sun Devils again down to eight scholarship players for Wednesday's showdown against first-place USC at the Galen Center. Hurley's squad turned in a game effort but fell to the No. 17 Trojans 89-71 in the nationally-televised contest.
It marked the fifth time ASU was without as many as four players, most notably freshmen standouts Josh Christopher (back) and Marcus Bagley (ankle) who were part of the highest ranked class the Sun Devils have had in the modern recruiting era.