In the immediate aftermath of a chippy rivalry game that saw two players ejected and Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley assessed a technical foul, the Sun Devils made a decision sure to be met with controversy.
With the outcome of the game—ultimately an 81-72 Arizona win—in hand with 30 seconds remaining, Hurley instructed the Sun Devils players on the bench to head to the locker room, and as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Arizona State coach could be seen gesturing towards his players on the floor to head to the locker room.
Here's how the scene played out on CBS Sports' main broadcast.
After the ejections, Arizona State HC Bobby Hurley had his players on the bench go to the locker room with 30 seconds remaining; he -- and the players on the floor -- went to the locker room right when the game ended. No handshakes.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 1, 2025
Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery with the CBS call. https://t.co/adptyYKEWk pic.twitter.com/uL6aJh7wbI
And here's another angle, which also captures a somewhat-dismissive wave from Hurley to his Arizona counterpart Tommy Lloyd.
Bobby Hurley refused to shake hands with Tommy Lloyd or Arizona and dismissed him with a wave. Almost no ASU players interacted with Arizona after the game. pic.twitter.com/PSUHuQ7MlF
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) February 1, 2025
Tempers flared multiple times earlier in the game. First, an irate Hurley took exception to a foul assessed to Sun Devils guard Adam Miller, and he was hit with a technical foul.
Bobby Hurley gets a tech and the tie is coming off! pic.twitter.com/8AnNZCcp5p
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 1, 2025
In the waning moments of the second half, the leading scorers for both programs, Caleb Love of the Wildcats and BJ Freeman of the Sun Devils, exchanged words off the ball. Then, as the two came face-to-face, Freeman headbutted Love and the two players had to be separated.
Both were assessed technical fouls and were ejected from the game.
After the game, Hurley told reporters that he instructed his team not to go through the handshake line so as to avoid an altercation with Arizona players, whom he claims acted with "no class."
Bobby Hurley said Arizona’s players were classless in their chatter before Freeman’s head butt of Love, leading to his decision to not shake hands to try to avoid an escalation. pic.twitter.com/63SQwXEXf6
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) February 1, 2025
"If you were right near our bench, it was relentless, constant chatter from a couple of the Arizona players that was not being policed properly," Hurley said. "It was done with no class in my opinion."
Lloyd, for his part, was diplomatic about the lack of a handshake line.
Tommy Lloyd says there no bad blood about no post game hand shake. pic.twitter.com/WKtdYcKm0h
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) February 1, 2025
"Obviously, it's disappointing ... Probably on all sides," Lloyd said. "We want to be a program, when tough things happen, we respond with class. And I don't know if we did or didn't. But just a tough moment in an emotional game. I got a lot of respect for Bobby and Arizona State."
The Wildcats improved to 15-6 with the win while the Sun Devils dropped to 12-9.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arizona State Coaches, Players Refuse Handshakes With Arizona After Rivalry Loss.
