Things got ugly during a college basketball rivalry game between Kansas and Kansas State Tuesday. The third ranked Jayhawks were up 81-59 with five seconds left dribbling out the clock, but Wildcats’ guard DaJuan Gordon decided steal the ball and attempt to score a layup before being blocked by Jayhawks’ forward Silvio De Sousa.
The block sent Gordon to the ground and De Sousa proceeded to stand over him in a taunting manner, which resulted in a technical foul. Antonio Gordon and David Sloan of Kansas State quickly came after De Sousa before both teams’ benches cleared resulting in a chaotic melee that pushed behind the basket into the area where fans with disabilities were sitting.
Kansas coach Bill Self saw this and was very disappointed in his team. “It happened in handicapped seating,” Self told the media. “If you’re going to do something, at least take it on the court or whatever. It’s ridiculous that they would go into the stands.”
De Sousa was seen throwing multiple punches and even had a stool in his hand at one point before it was taken away by Jayhawks’ assistant coach Jerrance Howard. Kansas players Marcus Garrett and David McCormack were also in the middle of it with the Wildcats’ James Love and Sloan. Coaches from both teams and police officers worked for several minutes to break up the fight as fans sitting near the baseline made a run for it.
After the brawl Kansas State had to return to the floor to shoot technical free throws as the crowd booed loudly. Only five players from each team came back to the court because the rest had been ejected for leaving the bench to escalate the situation.
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“It’s not something to be proud of,” Self said. “What happened showed zero signs of toughness. It’s a sign of immaturity and selfishness more so than toughness.”He also mentioned that there would be consequences after he got a chance to review the footage.
“It should have been avoided,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “It’s my guys — it’s my fault. They came here wanting to have a game, compete, and we didn’t compete the way we needed to, and probably a little frustration, especially the young guys.”
Weber claimed that he told his players to back off in the final seconds, but obviously Gordon didn’t listen. Self understood the Wildcat guard’s intentions to play until the whistle and told the media, “Silvio knew he was being defended. He took his ball, and certainly the way Silvio reacted to getting his ball taken, going and blocking his shot, that’s fair game. What transpired after that is what set everything off.”
The two teams meet again on February 29 in Manhattan.
