With the second-ranked team in the nation coming to town for a game broadcast nationally and in prime time, this was the week for MSU basketball to be in the spotlight. Unfortunately, this game won’t be remembered for the Dawgs taking Kentucky into overtime in front of the largest crowd in Humphrey Coliseum history.
The basketball fans around the country who watched this game will remember Mississippi State for two reasons: the storyline involving star Kentucky forward Demarcus Cousins’s cell phone blowing up with calls and texts from the 662 area code, and MSU fans throwing drinks onto the court at the end of overtime.
From the beginning of the game, it was apparent that this would be a heated contest, with fans more excited than they had been all season. As the game wore on, the possibility of a huge upset made the crowd in The Hump (including myself) even more anxious. However, as it became apparent that the Wildcats would leave Starkville with an overtime win, and many calls were made in favor of Kentucky, the fans’ energy turned into anger.
The fans’ anger over the officiating was understandable. Jarvis Varnado picked up his third and fourth fouls in a span of five seconds on questionable calls, and after the Bulldogs went up 67-60 with three minutes left in regulation, there were 10 fouls called against MSU while none were called against Kentucky. That alone is enough to make any MSU fan’s blood boil, but that is no excuse for what transpired at the end of the game.
The frustration of the fans continued to mount, and with less than a minute to go in overtime, drinks started flying from the stands onto the court. Two of the targets were official Mike Kitt and Kentucky’s John Wall, who both came close to being hit by projectiles. The incident delayed the final seconds of the game, and within minutes it was clear that it would be the most memorable event of the evening.
In a letter to the public, MSU Athletic Director Greg Byrne expressed his dissatisfaction with the incident, and requested that anyone who saw someone throw debris on the court e-mail him directly.
“No matter what transpires on the court or the field, there is never justification for fans throwing debris, or acting in any other similar way, to demonstrate displeasure,” Byrne said. “It puts everyone in jeopardy of injury, and is just not the spirit of intercollegiate athletics.”
In the same letter, MSU President Mark Keenum said that he formally apologized to Kentucky President Lee Todd for the “unfortunate” incident.
Sophomore industrial engineering major Lewis Cole said he understands where some fans were coming from, but said the actions were still inappropriate.
“It was little over the top, but I can understand they were emotional about it, because it did seem like the refs were making bad calls,” he said. “But it was a little bit too much.”
Before the game, an MSU spokesman told members of the media that they would attempt to obtain the phone numbers used to send Cousins objectionable messages, with the intention of seeking disciplinary action if they were found to be MSU students. However, the numbers were deleted from Cousins’ cell phone before they could be given to MSU officials.
The events of the past week reinforced stereotypes the rest of the nation holds against Mississippi. Reports of racial slurs being sent to Cousins put a Mississippi university back in the news for racial reasons. This also happened last fall when a Ku Klux Klan rally was held before an Ole Miss football game in Oxford.
After the game, message boards lit up, discussing the actions of MSU fans. Pat Forde, a respected columnist for espn.com referred to MSU fans as “some of the nastiest and most vulgar fans I’ve heard in 19 years of covering MSU basketball,” in a blog post that, in less than one day, had been commented on over 800 times.
Eventually, the negative press from Tuesday’s game will blow over, but it is an unfortunate reminder of what happens when an ugly incident overshadows one of the most exciting games of the season.