TEMPE — What would an Arizona-Arizona State be without drama?
Boring, of course.
Arizona vs. Arizona State hasn’t been boring. Saturday’s morning-to-afternoon game turned, um, chippy and physical, which, of course, was likely expected in this rivalry game.
Like Tucson and Tempe sunshine … it’s a guarantee.
It happened on Saturday after Arizona’s 81-72 win here in front of another frenzied crowd. Well, frenzied everything and everyone.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said he’s not sure if this was the most heated game since he’s been at UA (going on four years), but said “it was great and fun and it’s a fun environment. You wish everyone could experience it when you’re sitting in that frying pan … “
That depends on who is getting fried?
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley was so peeved in the end, he instructed his team to not shake the hands of Arizona’s players, more than twice shaking off Lloyd (from afar) as he left the court. He also went onto the court to instruct UA associate coach Jack Murphy to get away from his players after a hug of said player.
Hurley said it was “relentless, constant chatter from a couple of Arizona players that was not being policed properly.”
“They are going to be happy with winning, but it was done with no class,” Hurley added. “Words that were said led to the (incident) when (ASU player) BJ Freeman lost it. He lost his cool from (Love’s) constant talk that was allowed to go on.”
Arizona’s Caleb Love and Freeman were away from the basket when Freeman went to Love and headbutted him.
Love was ejected for retaliation and after review Freeman was ejected too. By the way, Love will be eligible to play in Tuesday’s game against Brigham Young.
“I thought it was very heated and something else could possibly happen,” Hurley said, of removing the players from the court. “I was going to avoid that.”
Bobby Hurley pulls his team off the court and doesn’t shake hands with Tommy Lloyd
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 1, 2025pic.twitter.com/Xox4mVuYoy
Lloyd in his postgame media session said he didn’t see what had happened but “there was obviously an altercation.”
“It’s obviously disappointing from all sides,” Lloyd said. “We want to be a program when tough things happen, we want to respond with class, and I don’t know if we did or didn’t.”
Love said “it was just two competitors going at it” regarding the confrontation.
Lloyd called it a tough moment in an emotional game, but said “I’ve got a lot of respect for Bobby and Arizona State.”
Clearly, it was a game heavy in heat and pressure. But isn’t it always with Arizona and Arizona State … no matter the team’s reputations of good or bad – or bad or good, depending on which side you are on.
In the end, “we were able to make a run at the right time,” Lloyd said.
It was good enough for Arizona to defeat ASU for the fifth consecutive time and ninth out of UA’s 10th try.
The final moments overshadowed a second-half surge by Arizona using a surging defense and some timely offense, including 18 points from Love, who has played some of his best basketball in spurts on Saturday. He hit five 3s and added six rebounds and seven assists.
“It’s great,” Lloyd said of Love’s performance. “We all know Caleb is a great player. I know he’s not going to play like that every single day …”
Have yourself a week, Caleb Love! In the past 45 minutes, 2.2 seconds of game time:
— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) February 1, 202538 points
Love said his heroics on Monday night – in UA’s late-game win over No. 3 Iowa State – carried over to Saturday.
“You’re supposed to have confidence and I’m going to play with confidence every time I step on the court,” Love said. “… I’m going to come out here and try to give my best effort every time.”
Hey Bobby, you still acting like a
— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) February 1, 2025
He’s always been this way from my days working at the PAC-12. Feel free to share with him.
BTFDhttps://t.co/UrzJElYyoa
Arizona also got some stellar play from center Henri Veesaar, who went scoreless in the first half but finished with 11 crucial points.
Jaden Bradley had 14 points and Carter Bryant had eight points and 10 rebounds.
“Everyone is coming up big for us,” Love said. “We’ve been challenging (Veesaar) this year and he’s been stepping up to the plate. He gives us a big spark off the bench When he’s playing well, we’re usually going to come out with a win.”
It also helps when Arizona plays defense like it did in the second half. It created problems with its press, creating turnovers that turned into points. And limited ASU from the perimeter when it tried to score from there.
“I think we’re a good pressing team – you almost have to pick and choose your spots,” Lloyd said. “We were able to create two or three turnovers off of it and it flipped the momentum.”
Setting it up for the last-minute drama and Arizona’s 15th win and ninth in the Big 12 Conference.
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