In the midst of what has been a fun, unpredictable, wide-open season of college basketball, Tuesday provided a couple of moments with no joy whatsoever. One wasn’t even part of a game.
Evansville fired Walter McCarty on Tuesday as a result of ongoing investigations that led to his being placed on administrative leave in the first place. The second-year head coach was initially put on leave right after Christmas from allegations of sexual misconduct and violations of the school’s Title IX policy, but the ongoing investigation revealed that to be just the beginning. ESPN obtained a memo sent to members of the university community where the president noted that McCarty tried to improperly influence witnesses.
This is much more than a promising coaching career being cut short by his own actions; McCarty is going to be in some serious hot water legally. He has long been highly thought of by others, so seeing this develop is just that much more disappointing.
Evansville will now be led by former Butler and Iowa head coach Todd Lickliter, who was an assistant under McCarty last season but had to resign due to health issues.
Then came the end of a rivalry game. Kansas took care of Kansas State 81-60, but the game ended anything but peacefully. With the final seconds ticking down, Silvio De Sousa was dribbling the ball but got stripped by Kansas State guard DaJuan Gordon, who then went in to try for a layup. De Sousa recovered and blocked the shot, then stood over Gordon and taunted him. From there, everything erupted.
The benches emptied, and De Sousa, fellow big man David McCormack and Marcus Garrett were at the center of it along with Kansas State’s Jason Love. The action went behind the basket, where at one point De Sousa had a stool in his hand before Kansas assistant coach Jerrance Howard got it out of his hands. Eventually, Bill Self even ran into the melee to try to get his kids out of it.
The game wasn’t even over yet, as it turns out. There was still one second left, Kansas State shot technical free throws as De Sousa initially got a technical for taunting, with five players from each team on the floor for the formality.
Self and Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber each took responsibility in their post-game press conferences, and Self especially had a lot to say. The Big 12 office will surely have plenty to say, and with so many players leaving the bench, there may be a number of suspensions coming, to the point where they may have to be staggered. Both teams play in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday for their next game.
De Sousa and McCormack have to be awaiting big punishments. They appeared to be the protagonists, and that would certainly hurt the Jayhawks up front. McCormick has come along this season, while De Sousa’s college career has been impossible to sum up in one word. He’s also been at the center of the FBI investigation into corruption, as well as the NCAA’s notice of allegations the school received in September, yet he’s basically been a bit player, never averaging nine minutes a game in his career.
It was one of the wildest fights anyone can remember in college basketball. It was also a very negative event, and on a day that already had one event that was a real negative for the sport. From here, one can only hope more positive ones follow in a season that has been fun to watch because of how wide open and unpredictable it has been.
Side Dishes
One other piece of sad news to come out was not entirely unexpected, as legendary coach Morgan Wootten passed away at age 88 before 10 p.m. on Tuesday night. DeMatha Catholic High School, where he won over 1200 games, announced the news and said he passed away peacefully not long after reporting that he was in hospice care at home. We extend our condolences to his family and friends at this time.
San Diego State remained undefeated, winning their 20th straight game as they took care of Wyoming 72-55. The Aztecs were never seriously threatened in the second half after leading by 13 at the break. Staying out west in the Mountain West, Utah State rebounded well from their devastating loss on Saturday night by handling Air Force 72-47 in Logan.
In Illinois‘ impressive 79-62 win at Purdue, guard Alan Griffin was ejected from the game for stepping on the chest of Purdue guard Sasha Stefanovic. After Stefanovic converted a driving layup in traffic, Griffin landed awkwardly, then as he regained his balance brought his left foot back and put it right on Stefanovic, who had hit the deck from the play. Griffin was given a flagrant 2 upon review, and head coach Brad Underwood said he apologized to Stefanovic later.
Other results of note: Villanova quietly moved to 5-1 in Big East play with a 76-61 win over Butler; Maryland trailed Northwestern by at the half, but turned it around in the second half to beat the host Wildcats 77-66 behind 25 points and 11 rebounds from Jalen Smith; Kentucky handled Georgia 89-79 in Lexington; LSU won another close game, this time edging Florida 84-82 in Baton Rouge for their seventh straight win overall and fifth straight by four points or less; Iowa State kept Oklahoma State reeling, holding off the Cowboys 89-82 in Ames for the Cowboys’ sixth straight loss and ninth in 11 games; TCU beat Texas Tech 65-54 to go to 4-2 in Big 12 play and knock the Red Raiders to 3-3; Wisconsin pulled away from Nebraska 82-68; VCU made a 13-point halftime lead stand up on the road as they beat Saint Joseph’s 73-60; Tennessee kept Ole Miss reeling 73-48, as the Rebels have lost six straight, four of them by double digits; Marquette got 32 points from Markus Howard to handle St. John’s 82-68, dropping the Red Storm to 1-6 in Big East play.
Tonight’s Menu
A busier night of action is ahead, and the key matchups to watch are largely early on.
- Two Big East teams that need to get some momentum going meet as Xavier hosts Georgetown (6:30 p.m.), then Providence hits the road to visit red-hot Seton Hall (8:30 p.m.) and Creighton visits DePaul (9 p.m.)
- Auburn tries to get back on track after losing two straight, this time at home against South Carolina, while Mississippi State hosts Arkansas (7 p.m.)
- A few key games are on tap in the Atlantic 10 as St. Bonaventure visits Dayton, Duquesne visits Rhode Island and Davidson hosts Saint Louis (7 p.m.)
- The grind in the Big Ten continues with Penn State at Michigan (7 p.m.) and Rutgers at Iowa (9 p.m.)
- A game both teams really need in the American Athletic Conference tips early on as Cincinnati goes to Temple (7 p.m.), while later on Tulsa tries to stay hot as they host Memphis (9 p.m.)
- Navy visits Boston University in a matchup of two teams chasing Colgate in the Patriot League (7 p.m.)
- Two of the top teams in the Summit League meet as North Dakota State travels to South Dakota State (8 p.m.)
- North Carolina will try to get going again, this time on the road as they visit Virginia Tech (8 p.m.)
- Two of the top teams in the Southland Conference battle as Sam Houston State hosts Abilene Christian (8:30 p.m.)
- Northern Iowa has another road test ahead as they go to Southern Illinois (9 p.m.)
- In-state rivals meet to close out the night as Nevada hosts UNLV (11 p.m.)
