What was billed as a glorified scrimmage turned into something far more heated Thursday night at Legacy Arena.
Alabama’s 87-85 win over Auburn in the exhibition game known as “The Feud” had the feel of a tournament game from the opening stretch, and the temperature never really dropped. By the finish, the two sides had traded not just baskets but multiple flashes of tension, with the most serious flare-up coming as the clock expired.
“It was a fiery game,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “It got chippy, as it should.
It only took four minutes to be a scuffle. We talked about getting into a fight tonight.
Not a street fight, but like, being more aggressive and trying to throw the first punch. I thought our guys responded to that coaching.
It was a really competitive game.”
The first dustup came almost immediately, before five minutes had gone by. It started with Alabama’s Keitenn Bristow and Auburn’s Thomas Dowd battling for the same rebound and ended with players from both benches getting involved.
Auburn’s Kevin Overton pulled Alabama’s Amari Allen away during the scramble, and Allen and Overton then exchanged words of their own. Alabama coach Nate Oats got into it with Overton next, and Pearl and Oats soon traded words as well.
That wasn’t the first time Allen and Overton had crossed paths in a tense moment. In March, after Alabama’s win over Auburn in Coleman Coliseum, Allen said something to Overton in the handshake line. Overton turned back around, had to be restrained and shouted something back.
Amari Allen & Kevin Overton had a heated exchange in the handshake line after Alabama's 96-84 win over Auburn. pic.twitter.com/5FcPvJjFYv
- Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) March 8, 2026
Thursday’s ending was even messier, and it left no room for a handshake line. The teams were not even lined up before another altercation started.
When the final buzzer sounded, Allen was near midcourt and pointed toward the Auburn bench while saying something. As he backed toward Alabama’s side, Auburn guard Caleb Williams made contact with him. Before Alabama assistant Preston Murphy and Oats could step in, Auburn guard George Kimble came over and appeared to shove Allen.
Asked afterward if he was punched by Kimble, Allen kept it simple.
“I don’t really know what happened,” Allen said. “I was just in the moment, happy we won the game.”
Oats then added his own account.
“I don’t think he got punched,” he said. “They pushed him,” Oats said.
“It was unfortunate that happened to close the game, but he thought he got pushed. I definitely wouldn’t call it a punch.
So, I mean, maybe you guys have the video. I was standing right there.
I thought he just kind of came in and two hand shoved him, which that’s why me and Steven (Pearl) just decided to send our guys to the lockers the other way.”
From there, staffers and coaches from both teams moved between the players to keep them apart, then directed their teams toward the exit. Pearl and Oats eventually shook hands with each other and their staffs.
“I would have liked for some of the chippiness that went over the line to not happen,” Oats said. “It’s not what we want to be about.
We’ve got to clean that up as a program. But the intensity from both teams, the competitiveness from both teams I thought was great.”
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