Aztecs-Arkansas game in Maui ends in fracas between fans and coaches

Issues acquired heated within the tropics Wednesday evening, with the third-place sport on the Maui Invitational between No. 17 San Diego State and No. 9 Arkansas ending in an on-court fracas involving followers and Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman.

Enviornment safety intervened, and Maui police have been referred to as. There have been no reviews of arrests.

“There was an remoted incident following the sport this night,” the match stated in a press release. “Safety acted shortly and appropriately to right away take away these concerned from the world.”

It occurred within the moments following the ultimate buzzer of a 78-74 Arkansas additional time victory on the 2,400-seat Lahaina Civic Middle, an intimate venue the place followers sit simply ft from the courtroom that’s extra highschool health club than school area. Because the groups walked by means of the handshake line at midcourt, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman engaged in an expletive-laced confrontation with SDSU followers sitting behind the Aztecs bench.

“There was simply an Aztec fan that got here down and stated some issues,” Musselman stated within the post-game information convention. “There have been phrases exchanged.”

As Musselman was pulled away by his workers, he flashed an “L” along with his fingers on his brow – the signal for loser – and, in accordance with a number of witnesses, screamed, “Go (expletive) your self.” He additionally appeared to have an trade with SDSU guard Matt Bradley, who knocked over a chair in anger.

Quickly, followers – together with at the very least one guardian of an SDSU participant – spilled out of the stands onto the courtroom and moved towards the Arkansas coaches as safety ushered them to their locker room.

On the entrance to SDSU’s locker room, a fan carrying an Arkansas shirt was repelled by safety and escorted away.

Requested about what occurred, SDSU coach Brian Dutcher stated: “I don’t know, I don’t know. I used to be already by means of (the handshake line). I simply inform our youngsters, I inform them yearly, I inform them each month: ‘You characterize your self first, your loved ones second, and this college and athletic program third. Don’t do something that may embarrass any of us.’ That’s a message I ship yearly to our guys, and I feel they do a great job of holding that up. They characterize themselves with lots of class.”

Arkansas was leaving straight after the sport for the airport and a red-eye constitution flight to Fayetteville. SDSU is staying in Maui for Thanksgiving and flying house Friday.

It’s not the primary time Musselman has been concerned in a handshake line confrontation with a Mountain West workforce. Whereas teaching Nevada in 2019 at Utah State, the staffs exchanged phrases and a Nevada participant allegedly shattered the glass case holding a hearth extinguisher outdoors the locker room.

The Mountain West investigated and decided the incident was not brought on by the courtroom rush from Utah State followers following the win however by “inappropriate conduct by people from each applications within the post-game handshake line.”