A fight broke out at the end of Kansas’ home victory over Kansas State Tuesday night, with a benches-clearing brawl creating a scary scene at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
With Kansas State down 21 points as the clock was expiring, Wildcats freshman guard DeJuan Gordon stole the ball from Kansas big man Silvio De Sousa and went in for a layup. De Sousa emphatically blocked the shot, and the two players started trash talking to each other as the final buzzer sounded. That’s when the benches cleared and the mayhem started.
Kansas has indefinitely suspended De Sousa for his role in the incident.
Here’s the full video, from ESPN:
Benches emptied at the end of the Kansas State-Kansas game. pic.twitter.com/zWv46h3RJC
— ESPN (@espn) January 22, 2020
Here’s another angle of what was going on inside of the brawl:
An all-out brawl just happened. pic.twitter.com/73MBmr0RNf
— Riley Gates (@Riley_Gates) January 22, 2020
And another angle of the fight:
I think this is maybe the best angle of the Kansas - KState fight pic.twitter.com/jhMPiQTO7l
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 22, 2020
Punches were thrown on both sides, with De Sousa in the middle of the altercation. This reverse angle is the best vantage point to see exactly what transpired.
Better angle pic.twitter.com/7xp394geRI
— Kansas Jayhawks (@dylannazarian) January 22, 2020
De Sousa had a stool in his hands and looked ready to swing it at the height of the brawl when Kansas assistant coach Jerrance Howard stopped him:
we almost had a chairshot pic.twitter.com/nY7fviM9zf
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 22, 2020
This photo of De Sousa getting ready to swing the stool is surreal. Both teams are lucky someone wasn’t seriously injured:
This is the image that you should never see in a college basketball game, no matter what happened before it. Brutal. Serious punishments likely to follow. Photo by @nickkrug #KUbball pic.twitter.com/FC6FAwkwzZ
— Matt Tait (@mctait) January 22, 2020
The photographs from the brawl are as frightening as they are incredible. Here are a few of the best from Getty:
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The referees put one second back on the clock after clearing the scene and made the players finish out the game.
Kansas coach Bill Self and Kansas State coach Bruce Weber addressed the incident after the game.
"That was an embarrassment on our part for the role that we played in it and there will be consequences that I'm sure I'll announce tomorrow." - Bill Self on the fight.#kubball #kstatembb #billself pic.twitter.com/PXBMcZafZX
— Pete Francis (@Pete_Francis) January 22, 2020
"It's my fault." - Bruce Weber on the fight#kstatembb #kubball #ksuvsku #bruceweber pic.twitter.com/HkyD62eYKf
— Pete Francis (@Pete_Francis) January 22, 2020
Bill Self on what he thought of K-State's actions: Not sure it's the right thing to do, but he doesn't place any blame on Gordon for taking De Sousa's ball. De Sousa should be mature enough to handle whatever's thrown at him.
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) January 22, 2020
Bill Self noted the KU-KSU melee spilled over to the handicap session. Took a moment to compose himself thinking about that. "At least 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."
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) January 22, 2020
Here is Self’s statement after suspending De Sousa:
Self: "I have suspended Silvio De Sousa indefinitely pending the final outcome of the review by KU and the Big 12 Conference. As I said last night, we are disappointed in his actions and there is no place in the game for that behavior.”
— Gary Bedore (@GaryBedore) January 22, 2020
Here is De Sousa’s statement:
I’m sorry for my actions last night, please read this: pic.twitter.com/cmkEO0I5Ax
— Silvio De Sousa ™ (@SilvioDeSousa5) January 23, 2020
The fallout from this fight is just beginning.