Whatever Bobby Hurley meant in his postgame locker room speech last week — where he said to the Sun Devils, paraphrasing, that if another team wanted to win in Arizona they should “go to Tucson” — came back to haunt him Thursday night.
Arizona’s fans booed the Arizona State coach when he first came out onto the McKale Center court, then again when he ran out of the tunnel just before the start of the game.
Often, during ASU’s timeouts, free throws or stoppages in play, the ZonaZoo cheered “Bobby! Bobby!” Posters scattered throughout the crowd made cracks at Hurley’s emotional coaching persona.
Some of the standouts:
• “Win in Tucson? You can’t even win in Tempe.”
• “Who throws better tantrums, Grayson Allen or Bobby Hurley?” Allen is star guard at Duke who is now famous for his tendency to trip opposing players.
• “Bobby Hurley cries every night.”
The ZonaZoo also had “bighead” cutouts of an angry/sad Hurley face.
The “Bobby” cheers returned in the second half when Hurley received his first technical foul. As Lauri Markkanen shot two free throws, two fans loudly proclaimed “Thank you, Bobby!” and “Bobby, you’re trash!”
