Emotions ran high in No. 4 Louisville’s 76-67 win at Western Kentucky on Saturday. The tipping point occurred with 38 seconds left in the first half, when Cardinal forward Montrezl Harrell was involved in a loose-ball altercation with multiple WKU players.
The skirmish ended with Harrell striking Hilltopper guard Avery Patterson in the face, before being restrained by a teammate and ultimately being charged with a flagrant two foul and ejected from the game.
A flagrant two foul does not automatically mean a player will be suspended, but NCAA rules allow conferences to review incidents and decide whether or not a player is worthy of a suspension. The ACC reviewed the incident and decided to suspend Harrell for Tuesday night’s contest against Cal-State Northridge.
Conference USA also reviewed film and opted not to discipline any WKU players.
Several individuals have voiced their displeasure in C-USA’s decision not to reprimand any Hilltoppers, most notably ESPN analyst and Louisville color analyst Bob Valvano.
During Monday’s edition of the “Bob Valvano Show” on ESPN 680 in Louisville, Valvano called WKU’s play dirty, and said if he was Hilltopper head coach Ray Harper, the first thing he would do is write an apology to Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.
“If I were coaching Western Kentucky, and saw the things on tape that I saw first-hand sitting courtside, and I were Ray Harper, the first thing I would do is write a letter of apology to Rick Pitino and the University of Louisville.” – Bob Valvano, ESPN 680
Valvano continued by saying WKU’s play in the game was classless and beneath both the program and college basketball in general. According to Valvano, a WKU player (Hilltopper walk-on point guard Brandon Price) punched Harrell in the groin while the two were entangled on the floor, causing Harrell to react the way he did.
Video of the incident shows Price swing his arm under Harrell in the groin area, but it does not appear to make any contact. Whether or not Price maliciously tried to hit Harrell is unclear, but C-USA officials deemed Price’s actions not worthy of a suspension.
As a matter of fact, only one WKU player received a technical foul during the whole incident, and that was guard D.J. Clayton, who shoved Harrell after Harrell hit Patterson.
Pitino only spoke briefly following the game, but said he believed Harrell should have been ejected. However, on Monday’s coach’s show, he defended his forward:
"“I told him, ‘Probably with four guys staring over me and keeping me down on the ground, anybody would’ve reacted that way, but it’s wrong, according to the rules.'”"
He continued:
"“When I coached in the Big East, that would’ve been a laughable incident because nothing connected. Times have changed. You can’t do that anymore. Even though you’re surrounded by four guys, you can’t do that.”"
Did WKU players purposefully try to cheap-shot Harrell? Take a look at the video and see what you think:
A lot certainly transpired during the few seconds in which the skirmish occurred, and there are various interpretations as to what happened. Valvano’s interpretation of the incident is one side of the story. But what about the other side? Let’s start by putting the moment into context.
Although WKU and Louisville are not high-profile rivals like Louisville and Kentucky, make no mistake about it — the series is still a heated rivalry. It spans several decades, and with Louisville’s win on Saturday the overall series is now tied at 39 games apiece (Louisville has won the last six matchups since WKU beat Louisville in 2008).
Furthermore, Louisville and WKU played in front of a standing-room-only Diddle Arena on Saturday. The crowd was electric, meaning the Hilltoppers were pumped up and full of energy. On the other hand, Louisville was playing its first road game of the season in front a raucous, sold-out crowd. From the opening tip, emotions were high for both sides.
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High-emotion games make for good entertainment, but usually feature some tense moments and a scuffle or two. The possibilities for scuffles increase during loose-ball situations, when players are in vulnerable positions. This situation was no different.
Here’s my perspective of what happened:
Off of a missed shot, Harrell grabbed the rebound and was quickly stripped by Price. He and Price both went for the loose ball and ended up entangled on the floor, with Harrell reaching over Price for the ball.
The two happened to be surrounded by three WKU players — Patterson, Clayton and T.J. Price — and those players probably took offense to how Harrell was swinging his legs around Brandon Price’s head.
They were likely trying to get Harrell off of Price, but to Harrell and other Louisville players it appeared they were hovering over Harrell and preventing him from standing up.
During the action, Price’s arm swings under Harrell around his groin, but did not make contact. Was he purposefully trying to hit Harrell? Maybe so, maybe not. There’s not enough evidence to prove either scenario.
Personally, I think Price was still trying to find the loose ball and the arm swing looked worse than what it actually was.
Whatever the intent, one misunderstanding led to another and in the heat of the moment Harrell attempted to hit another player. It’s not acceptable, but unfortunately that’s part of intense games. Luckily nobody was injured.
Harrell apologized for his actions following the game:
"“It was a heated situation. Everything took a turn for the worse. It’s bad that I overreacted in the heat of the moment, and I just want to apologize to my teammates. I want to apologize to the University of Louisville and apologize to my coaching staff. I know I shouldn’t have acted that way and I’m truly sorry.”"
Should WKU players be disciplined?
There is simply no evidence to suggest that’s the case. Whether or not the Hilltoppers played “dirty” and “classless” is up for interpretation, but even that seems a little farfetched. It was an intense contest that felt like a tournament game, and both teams played hard.
Sometimes playing hard can be perceived as playing dirty, and that is likely the situation here.
So what’s next? Harrell has apologized and served his one-game suspension. C-USA has no plans of disciplining WKU players, and would have already done so by now if it was going to. The best thing to do is to put the incident behind us and not allow it to overshadow what was a great game and atmosphere.
As of right now, there are no plans to renew the series between the two teams, meaning Saturday’s meeting might be the last time the two will play each other for the foreseeable future. If that’s true, it will be a shame, because a series featuring as much history and prestige as Louisville and WKU is hard to find.