TEMPE, Ariz. – 1. Tommy Lloyd and Bobby Hurley met close to midcourt throughout pregame, exchanging pleasantries, patting one another on the again.
A day of chirping and a late headbutt despatched the coaches in reverse instructions by the point the rivalry recreation was over.
Pissed off with Arizona’s fixed chatter, Hurley waved Arizona State’s gamers off the ground following the Wildcats’ 81-72 highway win on Saturday to forestall any additional escalation.
“Proper close to our bench, it was relentless, fixed chatter from a few Arizona’s gamers that wasn’t being policed correctly,” Hurley mentioned. “In fact they will be proud of successful, however it was carried out with no class, in my view.”
The Territorial Cup rivalry had been principally civil since Lloyd was employed at Arizona in 2021. The most recent model adopted swimsuit chunk of the afternoon at Desert Monetary Area, exterior of a first-half technical foul on Arizona’s Jaden Bradley for making a gesture.
It bought wild as Arizona pulled away late.
Thirty-nine minutes of trash speaking boiled over with 30 seconds left, when Arizona State’s B.J. Freeman headbutted Arizona’s Caleb Love within the lane. Love staggered again and began towards Freeman earlier than yelling at one of many officers concerning the headbutt.
Love then began jawing at Arizona State’s bench whereas being held again by a teammate and was ejected. The officers reviewed the play for a number of minutes earlier than deciding to eject Freeman as effectively.
“Clearly, it is disappointing, — most likely on all sides,” Lloyd mentioned. “When robust issues occur, we need to be a program that responds with class, and I do not know if we did or did not. However it was a troublesome second in an emotional recreation. I’ve bought numerous respect for Bobby and Arizona State’s gamers.”
Hurley did not have the identical sentiment, a minimum of within the warmth of the aftermath.
With the ultimate seconds winding down, Hurley had his gamers head up the tunnel towards the locker room. He lingered alongside the baseline for the ultimate inbounds play earlier than frantically waving at his remaining gamers to go away the courtroom as an alternative of shaking arms.
Arizona affiliate head coach Jack Murphy tried to speak to certainly one of Arizona State’s gamers close to midcourt, however Hurley waved him off with what gave the impression to be just a few selection phrases.
“Phrases that have been mentioned backwards and forwards led to the alternate with Freeman and he misplaced his cool with the fixed discuss that was allowed to go on,” Hurley mentioned. “I needed to make the choice, in the perfect curiosity of our staff, to get them into the locker room so there have been no incidents the remainder of the sport.”
Hurley spiced issues up much more in his postgame information convention, saying he has a vote for the all-Massive 12 and media members might guess who he would not vote for — apparently speaking about Love.
The rivals meet once more March 4 in Tucson. Buckle up.
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