Arizona State fell 81-72 to arch-rival Arizona on Saturday but the final seconds of regulation wound up hitting a fever pitch with BJ Freeman head-butting Wildcat veteran Caleb Love. Both players were ejected for the altercation but head coach Bobby Hurley's response to the incident had many fans and pundits confused.
As the clock drained of the final half-minute, Hurley sent his entire bench to the locker room early and told his players on the floor to head straight to locker room as soon as the final buzzer sounded. He was seen speaking to Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, seemingly giving him a heads up that there would be no traditional handshakes.
From the outside observer, it looked like a pretty classless move after a hard-fought rivalry game. But Hurley provided an explanation in his post-game news conference that helps shed a little more light on his unusual decision.
Bobby Hurley wanted to avoid further confrontation by skipping handshakes with Arizona
Tensions were clearly high at the end of the game when Arizona had things in hand but there were apparently hostilities exchanged on the court that were not easily observed by those watching the CBS broadcast. Hurley explained that his move to skip handshakes was a precaution to avoid any further escalations from the incident between Freeman and Love.
Hurley’s opinion on Arizona’s class and the exchange between Freeman and Love pic.twitter.com/gkytKXoAsl
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) February 1, 2025
"It was relentless constant chatter from some of the Arizona players," Hurley said. "It wasn’t policed properly ... I had to make a tough decision to - obviously for the best decision possible for our team to avoid any further altercations."
Hurley admitted Freeman "lost his cool" by head-butting Love under the basket which resulted in their ejections. However, he wasn't pleased with the way Arizona went about handling their business in the rivalry win.
"Of course they're going to be happy with winning but it was done with no class," he continued.
Although, Hurley wasn't afraid to reveal his own level of pettiness, telling reporters that he will not support Love in the all-conference awards voting given what he witnessed at the end of Saturday's game.
Arizona has now won nine of the last 10 meetings since the 2019-20 season was paused and cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frustrations in Tempe over the lack of success against the Wildcats won't be any easier tamed after how this latest installment in the rivalry ended.