The Arizona Wildcats' 81–72 rivalry win over the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday ended with a bit of drama.
In the final minute of regulation, Arizona State guard BJ Freeman delivered a headbutt onto the cranium of Arizona's Caleb Love, which led to a scuffle as well as a couple of technical fouls and ejections.
Following the ejections, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley instructed his players on the bench to go to the locker room with about 30 seconds left in regulation. And once the final buzzer sounded, Hurley ushered his players off the court and waved off Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, who was looking for the customary end-of-game handshake.
Former Arizona star and current basketball analyst Richard Jefferson was not impressed with Hurley's behavior.
"Hey Bobby, you still acting like a [clown]," Jefferson wrote on social media. "He's always been this way from my days working at the Pac-12 [Network]."
"He would call the Pac-12 offices if you said anything even remotely constructive about ASU," Jefferson continued in another post. "Multiple analysts were warned. He would complain that the schools owned the network and they BETTER not say anything but positive things. I could go on more about his antics but I’ll let him just take the L."
He would call the PAC-12 offices if you said anything even remotely constructive about ASU. Multiple analysts were warned. He would complain that the schools owned the network and they BETTER not say anything but positive things. I could go on more about his antics but I’ll let… https://t.co/WLJq7gxxmA
— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) February 1, 2025
Hurley is in his 10th season on the Arizona State bench. Jefferson, who now works for ESPN as an NBA analyst, began working for the Pac-12 Network in 2018 shortly after retiring from his playing career.
"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 after the game while explaining his decision to not shake the hands of Arizona coaches and players. "It was done with no class in my opinion."
The Wildcats and Sun Devils meet again March 4 at McKale Memorial Center.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Richard Jefferson Rips Arizona State's Bobby Hurley for Skipping Handshake After Loss.
