By Tony Mangia
A frightening basketball brawl broke out near the end of No. 3 Kansas' 81-59 victory vs. Kansas State at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. In what looked like some wild-west fight scene out of a movie, dozens of players, coaches and a whole cast of extras, excuse me, background actors, got caught up in the crazy melee on the court and in the stands.
All that was missing were cowboy hats and swinging saloon doors.
A frightening basketball brawl broke out near the end of No. 3 Kansas' 81-59 victory vs. Kansas State at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. In what looked like some wild-west fight scene out of a movie, dozens of players, coaches and a whole cast of extras, excuse me, background actors, got caught up in the crazy melee on the court and in the stands.
All that was missing were cowboy hats and swinging saloon doors.
The fracas started after Kansas' Silvio De Sousa swatted DaJuan Gordon on a breakaway as time expired. After the play, De Sousa stood over Gordon and when Kansas State's Cartier Diarra approached De Sousa, the rumble was on.
Besides the principal players, the action includes a curious mix of casting call fill-ins unsuspectingly making the scene seem like an almost surreal, stage-blocked film shot.
Props department, make sure a metal stool is positioned so that De Sousa can grab it and cock it back above his head and start the scene.
Rolling ... background ... action!
Props department, make sure a metal stool is positioned so that De Sousa can grab it and cock it back above his head and start the scene.
Rolling ... background ... action!
An all-out brawl just happened. pic.twitter.com/73MBmr0RNf— Riley Gates (@Riley_Gates) January 22, 2020
First, and out of nowhere, there was some dude in white skinny jeans getting involved and setting off a mad rush by players from both teams towards K-State's side of the court. The fight spilled into the stands and disabled section as players from both benches tussled and punches were thrown.
Benches emptied at the end of the Kansas State-Kansas game. pic.twitter.com/zWv46h3RJC— ESPN (@espn) January 22, 2020
Then, after Skinny Jeans Guy, a whole cast of odd background characters gets caught in the frenzy.
Terrified Girl was the first.
Terrified Girl was the first.
Cue the Male Cheerleader actually holding back A Stunned Cop.
And Guy in Yellow Security Shirt got some prime face time.
Finally, if that wasn't enough, Where's Waldo was even spotted in the scene.
De Sousa was given an unsporting technical foul and a future suspension seems inevitable. All players who left the bench were ejected and could face further penalties as well.
The two schools will be featured together again Feb. 29 in Manhattan, Kansas.
And the extras ... well, they got their big screen breaks.
