Kansas State Basketball Suspends Two Players For Alabama Game
In the wake of an all-out fight that occurred between the basketball teams of Kansas and Kansas State on Tuesday night, two key Wildcat players have been suspended.
Junior forward James Love III has been suspended for eight games following the incident while junior guard David Sloan has been suspended for three games. Both punishments were issued by the Big 12 Conference.
"This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated and these suspensions reflect the severity of last evening's events," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowisby said in a statement. "I am appreciative of the cooperation of both institutions in resolving this matter."
Alabama and Kansas State are set to square off in the Big 12/SEC Challenge Saturday at 5 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum (ESPN 2).
The fight was a result of a punishing block delivered by Jayhawks sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa in the final seconds of Kansas' 91-60 victory over Kansas State. De Sousa blocked a last-second layup by Kansas States' freshman guard DaJuan Gordon, then stood over him. Sloan ran over to protect his teammate, but his retaliation resulted in a brawl between the two teams as the clock expired.
A video of the brawl can be viewed in the tweet below, courtesy of ESPN:
The loss of both players is not expected to impact Saturday's matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Wildcats much, as both Love and Sloan have not been big contributors for Kansas State so far this season.
Sloan has averaged just 4.7 points per game in 18 games played so far this year and averages 1.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, respectively.
Love's absence will also not make much of an impact, as so far this season his two minutes in the game against Kansas was the only playing time he has seen so far this season.
For Kansas, both De Sousa and sophomore forward David McCormack were also suspended, with De Sousa being suspended for 12 games and McCormack for two.
