‘Swallow Their Whistles’: Arizona State HC Bobby Hurley Gets Into Trouble for Derogatory Remarks on Officiating

Early Pac-12 contenders Arizona State Sun Devils have been quite a disappointing team to watch this season. Their recent loss against Arizona Wildcats was a tough one to take, and head coach Bobby Hurley’s outburst after the defeat has now got him into trouble. 

Pac-12 reprimands Bobby Hurley for derogatory comments 

The 82-84 loss against Arizona Wildcats was the seventh in the Sun Devils’ 2020/21 college basketball season. It also extended their losing streak to five games, and coach Bobby Hurley let loose in the post-game presser. 

Hurley critically targeted the officials for losing him the game. The main point of debate was about a foul that wasn’t given in his team’s favor. Arizona State guard Remy Martin went for a layup with just nine seconds on the clock and was met at the rim by Azuolas Tubelis, who struck his opponent’s arm in the process. 

The officials did not call for a foul and the game went on. The Sun Devils then went on to lose the fixture by a two-point margin, and Hurley was fuming about the no-call late in the game. He then used his Twitter account to state his point. 

Moreover, Bobby Hurley also explicitly called out the officials for their controversial call during the post-match press conference. This directly violated the rule which states that coaches are not allowed to make public comments about the officials and should rather take them up with the coordinator of officiating. 

Hence, the Pac-12 conference reprimanded coach Hurley for his explicit remarks on the officials in front of the media.

What did the Arizona State HC tell the media? 

Hurley is not in the happiest of phases in his coaching career. The Sun Devils had just recorded their fifth straight loss and things weren’t looking good. But he held on to the fact that the team could’ve won the game if not for the officials’ controversial decision.

“So you’re talking about a guy that is as decorated a player as there is in the conference that goes to the hoop at a critical moment in the game and they swallow their whistles. That kid goes and gets knocked on his (backside). They went down and scored,” Hurley told the press. 

Martin had 18 points in the game and was going for a two-pointer to clinch the win for his team, but was stopped by a block from Azuolas Tubelis. A poll conducted by @azcsports later revealed that a majority of Twitter users felt it was a foul against Martin. 

However, the officials never called for the foul and let the play go on. Arizona State was deprived of its 30th and 31st free throws of the game, and the tide turned against them. It was a feisty ending to the game, and these two teams will once again square off on Monday! 

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