Texas Tech Red Raiders fans littered their own home court on Tuesday night in the second half of their 81-69 loss to the Texas Longhorns, and it cost their team some points.
The incident occurred with about 10:16 left in the game. Longhorns forward Brock Cunningham delivered a hard check to Texas Tech guard Darrion Williams, knocking him out of bounds. As officials reviewed the play, Texas Tech fans threw objects, including water bottles, onto the court.
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From left to right, Rodney Terry, Steve McClain and Dillon Mitchell, #23 of the Texas Longhorns, react to water bottles being thrown onto the court during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at United Supermarkets Arena on Feb. 27, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Big 12 officials reviewed the play and assessed a Flagrant 2 foul on Cunningham, which led to his ejection. Texas Tech was also assessed a technical foul because of its fans’ behavior. It prompted Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland to get on the microphone and tell fans to stop it.
“We all know what’s at stake in this game,” McCasland told reporters after the game, via the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of passion in this game. When you have to go talk on the mic, you’re talking to 15-plus-thousand people, but really, you’re talking to a couple people that are doing things that are completely unacceptable.
“You could tell when I finally communicated clearly, like, this can’t happen, a lot of people were applauding because they know it’s not what we need to do, and it cost us technicals, and it caused us a problem.
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Brock Cunningham, #30 of the Texas Longhorns, is escorted off the court after picking up a flagrant foul during the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at United Supermarkets Arena on Feb. 27, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
“But you know what comes with this great place is there’s a lot of passion, and unfortunately I thought the decisions of a few people impacted everybody and that’s not what this is about, and we’ll get better because of it.”
Texas coach Rodney Terry said he told officials he was thinking of taking his players off of the floor.
He also commended McCasland for getting on the PA to talk to the fans.
“Some coaches won’t do that,” Terry said. “He did that. Kudos to him. Proud of him. Proud of coach Grant. He’s a man of a lot of character and a good man who’s done a great job coaching his team.”
Some fans were seen getting taken out of the arena.
A fan is carried up the stairs by police and security during the second half of the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Texas Longhorns at United Supermarkets Arena on Feb. 27, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Texas Tech was down more than 20 points after the incident. They scored five straight points once play resumed but did not bring the deficit down to fewer than 12 points.
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Dylan Disu had 21 points and Max Abmas had 18 for the Longhorns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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