Up five early in the second half on the Arizona Wildcats, the Sun Devils unraveled down the stretch to fall 81-72 at home in the Territorial Cup Series rivalry matchup. With Arizona State on offense in the game’s final seconds, senior BJ Freeman headbutted Arizona’s Caleb Love after play stopped with a deflection out of bounds.
Love and other Wildcat players had been yapping for quite some time. Love was ejected immediately and Freeman too after replay review.
Postgame, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley voiced his disgust with the opponent’s trash talk: “Right near our bench, it was relentless, constant chatter from a couple of Arizona’s players that wasn’t being policed properly. Of course, they’re going to be happy with winning, but it was done with no class, in my opinion.”
It was a frustrating defeat in an intense rivalry, and Hurley had a lot more to say in his postgame presser.
No Postgame Handshake for Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats
Although it was Freeman who did the headbutting, the coach supported his player in his comments to the media, saying he had been provoked. “Words that were said back and forth led to the moment where Freeman lost his cool because of the constant talk that was allowed to go on,” Hurley said.
At the buzzer, with both Freeman and Love out of the game, Hurley whisked his players into the locker room and waved off opposing coach Tommy Lloyd instead of participating in the customary handshake line. “I just saw that it was very heated and I thought there were possibilities that something else could have happened,” he explained. “I wanted to avoid any further confrontation at the end of the game.”
Arizona’s leading scorer at 15.7 PPG coming into the contest, Love poured in 27 Saturday afternoon and went 5-9 from distance. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 7 assists.
www.arizonawildcats.com
With the win the Wildcats improve to 15-6 overall and 9-1 in the Big 12, in second place behind Houston. The Sun Devils fall to 12-9 and continue to struggle in conference play (3-7).
Indeed, Hurley expressed frustration about more than just Arizona’s antics.
Hurley’s Fuming Ends With Caustic Jab
“I don’t want to diagnose every time why we lose,” Hurley said of his interactions with players after the game. “Eventually you gotta do the things necessary to win. It’s getting a little old to walk in there after the game and explain why we just lost.”
In particular, he referenced the second half turnovers that helped blow State’s lead and ignite a trailing opponent. Entering the game as 6.5-point underdogs, the Sun Devils had a chance to notch a satisfying win over a hated rival.
Hurley also took aim at the officiating, getting up out of his chair to demonstrate the excessive physicality, as he saw it, being allowed under the basket against his players. Hurley stated that this has been happening a lot, not just this Saturday–“way too often.” When the opponent is allowed to shove his guys into the cheerleaders, he said, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound or contest a layup.
“It must be nice,” he said of the ability to get away with that type of play.
The Wildcats finished with a 52 to 38 edge in rebounds, including 18 to 11 on the offensive glass. Neither team was efficient from the field–Arizona shot 37.1%, Arizona State 36.8%–but the visitors reached the line more often and capitalized when they did, sinking 21 of 22 free throws to the Sun Devils 10 of 14.
Also his team’s top scorer (12.5 PPG), Freeman led the Sun Devils with 19 points.
Hurley ended his media session with a bitter remark referring to Love. “I can tell you this. I do get a vote for All-Conference and I could tell you who’s not getting a vote.”
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