SI

Arizona State Coaches, Players Refuse Handshakes With Arizona After Rivalry Loss

In the aftermath of a chippy game, Hurley and the Sun Devils walked off the court without going through the handshake line with the Wildcats.

Tim Capurso

Hurley and two Arizona State players heading off the court without shaking hands.
Hurley and two Arizona State players heading off the court without shaking hands. / Screengrab Twitter @awfulannouncing
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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.

And here's another angle, which also captures a somewhat-dismissive wave from Hurley to his Arizona counterpart Tommy Lloyd.

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.

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."

"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.

"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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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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