No. 8 Texas Tech took down second-ranked West Virginia in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday. It was the Red Raiders' second win since 2005 over an AP top-2 team, so naturally, fans bull-rushed the court in celebration.
The scene as #TexasTech protects home court once again and moves back into a tie atop the Big 12 standings! #WreckEm#4To1pic.twitter.com/7fyAJcMh50
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 13, 2018
The aftermath on the floor, however, wasn't pretty. Video of the event has circulated that shows Mountaineers player Wesley Harris throwing a punch at a Texas Tech fan who bumped into him. It also appears two other WVU players got into small kerfuffles with opposing fans as well.
I guess Wesley Harris #21 and @sagaba50 #50 from @WVUhoops were a little bitter after tonight’s loss to @TexasTechMBB Swinging at fans on the court 🙄 @Big12Conference@espn#wreckem#gunsup#ttu#wvupic.twitter.com/cpTdNolmVX
— Steven Gutierrez (@stevenjee10) January 14, 2018
A West Virginia player threw a punch at a fan after the Texas Tech crowd stormed the court pic.twitter.com/rVfA0J2uRv
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 14, 2018
In 2015, the Big 12 passed legislation that said league members could face fines, or even loss of future home games, for failing to keep fans from storming courts or rushing fields after games. So punishment in this incident is at the discretion of commissioner Bob Bowlsby.
In a similar incident in 2015, Bowlsby publicly reprimanded Kansas State for failing to prevent a court storm after the Wildcats beat No. 8 Kansas. And later in 2015 when Iowa State beat rival Iowa and Cyclones fans rushed the floor, no punishment was handed down. The only difference between those incidents and this one, though, is that student-athletes were found in the middle of a dust-up between fans.
West Virginia has a pivotal showdown with Kansas on Monday, so it will be interesting to see what kind of punishment -- if any -- is handed down for those involved in the incident, and if Texas Tech is reprimanded for the court storm.