The basketball showdown between Arizona State and Arizona on Saturday was filled with excitement and some heated moments.

Arizona coach Bobby Hurley made the decision to send his bench players to the locker room with just 30 seconds remaining in the game. The teams decided to skip the postgame handshake line after Wildcats player Caleb Love and Sun Devils player BJ Freeman were both ejected with under a minute left in Arizona’s 81-72 victory at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.

After the game, Hurley explained his choice to avoid the handshake line and remove his team from a tense situation. He cited the “constant chatter” from Arizona’s players as a factor in his decision.

“If you were close to our bench, you would have heard relentless talking from a few Arizona players that wasn’t being controlled,” Hurley commented in the postgame interview. “Sure, they are celebrating their win, but it lacked class in my opinion. The back-and-forth words contributed to the moment Freeman lost his composure due to the ongoing remarks that were allowed to continue.

“I had to make a difficult choice for the well-being of our team to get them off the court and into the locker room to prevent any further incidents during the game or in the handshake line.

“I perceived the atmosphere to be very intense and wanted to avoid any additional issues. I aimed to prevent any further altercations at the end of the match,” Hurley explained further.

Incident: Caleb Love and BJ Freeman Ejected

Initially, Love was ejected for retaliating, but replays revealed that Freeman had headbutted Love first, which also led to Freeman’s ejection.

Hurley didn’t hold back his feelings regarding Love’s actions, stating during the postgame comments: “I get to vote for [Big 12] All-Conference, and I can assure you that Love won’t be receiving my vote.”

The two teams are set to meet again on March 4.