Bobby Hurley waves Arizona State players off court after loss to Arizona

Tommy Lloyd and Bobby Hurley met near midcourt during pregame, exchanging pleasantries, patting each other on the back. An afternoon of chirping and a late headbutt sent the coaches in opposite directions by the time the rivalry game was over.

Frustrated with Arizona’s constant chatter, Hurley waved Arizona State‘s players off the floor following the Wildcats‘ 81-72 road win on Saturday to prevent any further escalation.

“Right near our bench, it was relentless, constant chatter from a couple of Arizona’s players that wasn’t being policed properly,” Hurley said. “Of course they’re going to be happy with winning, but it was done with no class, in my opinion.”

The Territorial Cup rivalry had been mostly civil since Lloyd was hired by Arizona in 2021. The latest version followed suit for a good chunk of the afternoon at Desert Financial Arena outside of a first-half technical foul on Arizona’s Jaden Bradley for making a gesture.

It got wild as Arizona pulled away late.

Thirty-nine minutes of trash talking boiled over with 30 seconds left, when Arizona State’s B.J. Freeman headbutted Arizona’s Caleb Love in the lane. Love staggered back and started toward Freeman before yelling at one of the officials about the headbutt.

Love then started jawing at Arizona State’s bench while being held back by a teammate and was ejected. The officials reviewed the play for several minutes before deciding to eject Freeman as well.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing, — probably on all sides,” Lloyd said. “When tough things happen, we want to be a program that responds with class, and I don’t know if we did or didn’t. But it was a tough moment in an emotional game. I’ve got a lot of respect for Bobby and Arizona State’s players.”

Hurley didn’t have the same sentiment, at least in the heat of the aftermath.

With the final seconds winding down, Hurley had his players head up the tunnel toward the locker room. He lingered along the baseline for the final inbounds play before frantically waving at his remaining players to leave the court instead of shaking hands.

Arizona associate head coach Jack Murphy tried to talk to one of Arizona State’s players near midcourt, but Hurley waved him off with what appeared to be a few choice words.

“Words that were said back and forth led to the exchange with Freeman, and he lost his cool with the constant talk that was allowed to go on,” Hurley said. “I had to make the decision, in the best interest of our team, to get them into the locker room so there were no incidents the rest of the game.”

Hurley spiced things up even more in his postgame news conference, saying he has a vote for the all-Big 12 and media members could guess who he wouldn’t vote for — apparently talking about Love.

The rivals meet again March 4 in Tucson. Buckle up.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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