Bobby Hurley refuses to shake hands with Tommy Lloyd, Arizona State leaves bench early after BJ Freeman headbutt

Multiple players were ejected in the final minutes of Saturday’s Arizona vs. Arizona State game. That tension boiled over the rest of the way, and the Sun Devils left the court early.

Arizona State’s players headed to the locker room as time ticked away in the game, and Bobby Hurley refused to shake hands with Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd in the process. That exchange occurred after BJ Freeman and Caleb Love were ejected for a headbutt late in the second half.

The ejections occurred with 30 seconds left in Saturday’s rivalry matchup. Arizona held on for the 81-72 victory, and the two teams will square off once again in March.

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

After the game, Hurley explained why he pulled the players off the bench early. He cited “constant chatter” from Arizona, and he was hoping to avoid escalating things in the handshake line.

“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. “Of course, they’re going to be happy with winning. But it was done with no class, in my opinion. Words that were said back-and-forth led to the moment where Freeman lost it and lost his cool because of the constant talk that was allowed to go on. I had to make a tough decision, in the best interest of our team, to get them into the locker room so there’d be no further incidents the rest of the game.”

With the loss, Arizona State continues its struggles through its first Big 12 schedule. The Sun Devils are now 3-7 in league play and 12-9 overall in a year that began with plenty of pressure around Bobby Hurley, On3’s Pete Nakos reported.

Love scored a game-high 27 points, drilling five 3-pointers, to go with with seven assists and six rebounds before getting tossed in the waning moments of the rivalry game. Freeman, meanwhile, also had a big day for Arizona State. He dropped 19 points while adding three rebounds and three assists before his early exit.

Arizona has now won 11 of its last 12 games dating back to the middle of December. The win improved the Wildcats to 9-1 in Big 12 play, and they’re in sole possession of second place behind Houston in the current conference standings. Arizona will look to keep things going Tuesday against BYU in another intriguing conference matchup.

Barkley Truax contributed.