Bobby Hurley’s anger boils over after ejection against Arizona
Arizona State fell short of upsetting rival Arizona in Tempe for a third straight season, but new coach Bobby Hurley still managed to endear himself to Sun Devils fans.
Hurley displayed his trademark energy and passion Sunday afternoon after getting ejected late in his team’s 94-82 loss.
When Arizona State forward Savon Goodman was assessed a foul with his team trailing by six and 1:14 left in the game, Hurley received a technical for arguing the call. Hurley then went apoplectic 14 seconds later when Sun Devils point guard Tra Holder was whistled for a foul that his coach felt should have gone against Arizona guard Gabe York.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley picks up his 2nd technical and is ejected from the game with 59.6 to go #Pac12 https://t.co/qUycVNs92t
— FS1 (@FS1) January 3, 2016
Hurley’s meltdown may have endeared him to the Arizona State crowd and injected new life into the rivalry, but it also snuffed out what little hope his team had of a comeback. York made four free throws, extending Arizona’s lead to 10 with less than a minute to go and enabling the Wildcats to emerge with a key road win in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
“I really wouldn’t have changed anything that I did today,” Hurley told reporters in his postgame news conference. “And that’s as far as I’m going to comment about any of that. I always want the spotlight to be on the performers and the guys in the game.”
It was fitting that York was on the foul line for the game-clinching free throws because he was the player most responsible for Arizona’s victory. The senior scored 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half including a trio of 3-pointers that helped extend the Wildcats lead to double figures.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
