How Five Seconds Changed Everything

Article by Dave Nguyen, AKSM Sports

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - With less than five seconds to go, the #3 Kansas Jayhawks were going to defeat their rival, the Wildcats of Kansas State by 21 points.

As head coaches Bill Self and Bruce Weber were walking to center court to exchange in their handshake, they did not expect a fight to break out between the two rival schools. Jayhawks forward Silvio De Silva blocked the shot of Kansas State guard DaJuan Gordon and decided to stand over Gordon to taunt him. Whether De Silva was trying to express his male dominance or his shot blocking ability, the body language by De Silva caused a brawl between both teams, clearing the benches. Four players were suspended for 25 games, with De Silva handed a 12 game suspension, after throwing fists and grabbing a chair. His fellow Jayhawk teammate David McCormack was given a two game suspension, while James Love and Antonio Gordon of Kansas State were suspended eight and three games respectively. As both coaches for each team have said, behavior like this is unacceptable.

People can understand that it's a rivalry game and sometimes, in the heat of the moment, the game can get too physical. It's another issue when players start throwing punches at each other like a backyard street fight. The benches clearing only made it worse, and one can only imagine what would have happened if the assistant coach for Kansas did not take the chair away from De Silva. Looking back at the aftermath, the brawl makes absolutely no sense as to why it happened. It was a meaningless action that caused nothing but negative attention to: Kansas, Kansas State, the Big 12 Conference, and the NCAA. Simply put: the fact that the brawl happened was embarrassing for multiple parties.

As tensions start to settle and suspensions are handed accordingly, it will be interesting to see what happens when both teams meet again on February 29th.