The foul is on Arizona State guard Tra Holder, his first, team’s third. Pacing in front of the bench, coach Bobby Hurley, elbows out, hands on hips, glances up at the scoreboard at Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center.

“Tony,” Hurley calls to veteran official Tony Padilla.

Padilla walks over.

For the next 10 seconds, while Utah prepares to inbound on the baseline, Hurley makes his case, pointing to the opposite end of the court – ASU’s end – raising his hands, seeking explanations. Padilla says little. Play resumes. Hurley’s just getting started.

In nearly every game he’s like this, an avalanche of intensity, coming this close at times to getting a technical foul not once, but multiple times. No doubt to some, the biggest surprise of ASU’s season is that Hurley has gotten T’d up only once in 15 games. That’s fair. But ASU staff and players insist Hurley’s charged reaction is more energy source than distraction. That there’s a method to his madness.

“You see him, though?” said senior guard Shannon Evans, the player who has known Hurley the longest, dating to their pre-ASU days at Buffalo. “He’s over there jumping around. I’ll be like, he’s got to chill out sometimes. But we all feed off that. He knows that.”

There’s no guidelines with this. No definitive line in which to approach but not cross. It’s different every game, different for every coach. In this case, the only constant is Hurley’s intensity. It’s his trademark. And at times, it gets him into trouble with officials. Or at least dangerously close.

Truth is, Hurley’s intensity spikes long before the first questionable call. Asked when he first notices it, associate head coach Rashon Burno says two days before the game. Evans said it surfaces at least a day before, but with No. 11 ASU (13-2 and 1-2 in the Pac-12) hosting Oregon on Thursday, he felt it earlier this week.

This goes back to Hurley’s childhood, growing up the son of a Hall of Fame coach. At St. Anthony High in Jersey City, Bob Hurley also was known for his intensity, not only with how he coached, but in how he dealt with officials.

“You never wanted to be around my dad the day of a game when he coached high school,” Hurley said. “He was a monster to be around. His mood, he’d snap at you if you said the wrong thing.”

Hurley noticed similar qualities in his brother Dan, with whom he coached at Wagner and Rhode Island. As tip-off approached, Hurley could feel his brother’s mood change. He could feel a tension, a strong urge of just wanting to get the damn game started. He’s the same way.

As a player, both in college and in the NBA, Hurley felt a pregame fire in his stomach. He feels similar flames as a coach, and it probably doesn’t help that he downs a can of Red Bull before leaving the locker room. On the court, Hurley tries to see what his team needs and acts accordingly. Sometimes the intensity boils over.

“There are plenty of times that I’m very composed,” Hurley said. “I think I was during Kansas. I knew that it was going to be a hostile environment and they needed me to be very composed and under control. I lost it a couple times at Arizona over a few calls, but for the most part I thought I tried to keep my emotions in check and focus on coaching basketball. I will always strike a balance between coaching my team and making sure everyone’s accountable.”

Every coach fights for the official’s whistle. Some do it under their breath. Some do it for all to see. Some pick their spots. Some contest every call. Hurley is more animated than most, a reason he draws more attention. He has safeguards in place. When extremely upset, he locks hands behind his back, which prevents pointing and gesturing. If that fails, he simply walks to the end of the bench, distancing himself from the drama.

“Usually when we’re struggling, he’s looking for a way out,” said Ben Wood, who sits close to Hurley each game as a special assistant to the head coach. “Getting a break, getting a call, sometimes that can relieve your stress. And also, he doesn’t want to vent his frustration on his players (because they might) lose confidence, so it’s kind of like he redirects it toward the referees to the certain extent that he can.”

To Burno, it comes down to feel.

“Everyone’s caught up in the antics but he’s had one technical – knock on wood – all season,” he said. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Hurley relies on his assistants to keep him in check. His players, too. With 3:11 left in Sunday’s first half, Utah forward Jayce Johnson picked up a foul while chasing a long rebound. Despite the favorable call, Hurley complained anyway. Fouls to that point: ASU 11, Utah 4.

Senior guard Kodi Justice walked over to calm down his coach. Evans gave Hurley a pat on the backside. Hurley stopped.

“Once they do that, then I realize that now I’m distracting them from playing basketball, so I have to calm down, lay off, whatever the case may be,” Hurley said. 

His players appreciate the fire. Perhaps more important, they’ve come to expect it.  

“It gets me going,” Evans said. “You see your coach over there jumping around fighting for you, it makes you want to keep going the extra mile as well.”

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Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at [email protected]. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller. Download the ASU XTRA app.

Thursday’s game

Oregon at No. 11 ASU

When: 8 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Arena.

TV/radio: Fox Sports 1/KTAR 620 AM.

Streaming: Fox Sports Go app.

Outlook: The Sun Devils (13-2, 1-2) are coming off Sunday’s 80-77 win at Utah, which earned them a split of the Rocky Mountain schools. … Guards Shannon Evans (16.9 ppg) and Kodi Justice (13.7) both broke out of shooting slumps. Evans hit 5 of 7 from 3-point range, while Justice hit 8 of 9 from 2-point range. … Against Oregon, ASU needs more production from F Romello White. Its top post option, White has battled foul trouble and is averaging just five points in Pac-12 games. … Oregon (11-5, 1-2) is coming off last week’s 76-64 loss at Oregon State. … After losing his top five scorers off last season’s Final Four team, coach Dana Altman is still figuring things out. G Payton Pritchard averages 15 points and 4.1 assists.