Tension between Arizona State and Colorado players reached a boiling point on Wednesday when, with the game firmly in Colorado's control, Buffaloes guard Dominque Collier connected with Tyler Bey for an alley-oop dunk that Sun Devils players interpreted as the equivalent of rubbing salt in the wound.
The dunk came with Colorado clinging to a 9 point lead with under 10 seconds left in the game, and ASU guard Tra Holder took exception by coming after Bey, leading to a mini dust-up in the waning moments of the contest.
To make matters even worse, Colorado coach Tad Boyle appeared to injure himself in an effort to break up things before they got out of hand. According to the Arizona Daily Star, Boyle was seen wearing a walking boot after the game, and a school official said Boyle likely has a torn or strained calf stemming from the incident.
Boyle may be nursing the injury over the next few days, but he won't be doing it from home. His Colorado team sunk Arizona State 97-85, setting up a Thursday showdown with No. 1 Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals round.