On a night when Kansas alumni team JHX Hoops beat Wichita State’s AfterShocks 64-59 in a TBT semifinal at Koch Arena, the basketball took a back seat to two ugly confrontations.
The first came in the second quarter, when Kansas’ Mario Chalmers and Wichita State’s Rashard Kelly got tangled up while fighting for a rebound. Both were ejected, and the fallout spread quickly. Jayhawks Jamari Traylor, Kevin Young and Tra-Deon Hollins were tossed for leaving the bench area, while the Shockers lost QJ Peterson, Morris Udeze, James Woodard and Chaunce Jenkins for the same reason.
That left both teams with just six available players for the rest of the game.
The second incident was even more chaotic. After Frank Mason III knocked down a 3 to reach the target score of 64 and send JHX Hoops into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. alumni bracket final against Kentucky’s alumni team at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, the celebration spilled into a full-blown fracas.
Mason’s game-winner sent him sprinting to the far end of the floor. Traylor, who also ran downcourt with Zeke Mayo, Andrew Orr and Jacob Hanna, appeared to exchange words with a Wichita State assistant coach. Hanna then appeared to be pushed by WSU’s Marcus Keene into JHX content editor Maggie Gehring, whose nose was bleeding after the contact with Hanna.
Hanna also had a cut on his head that was treated in the locker room area.
Keene seemed to acknowledge going after Hanna on social media, writing on X: “No. 2 (Hanna) from Kansas ... hahah put him on his back.”
Back near the basket, close to where the second-quarter scuffle had happened, KU’s Billy Preston had to be escorted into the tunnel by KU assistant coach Tyshawn Taylor and security. One onlooker told The Star in an unconfirmed report that Preston had been pushed by a fan in the end zone by the KU bench. Photos appear to show a fan trying to grab Preston from the sideline.
There was also an unconfirmed report that when both teams finally left the floor, security told them to stay in their locker rooms so they wouldn’t cross paths on the way out.
KU coach Sherron Collins said the officials handled the situation the right way.
“The ejections … it’s guys just being competitive, a little scuffle happens. It’s basketball.
It’s a little physical,” Collins said. “Guys ...
I think they got personal, too personal with each other, and then (it) escalated. But again, TBT handled the job.
They ejected a couple of our guys, ejected a couple of their guys, so they acted the right way. They were fair, and yes, we just had to play the hand we were dealing.
We came out on top.”
Collins also said the short-handed setup may have helped his team.
“Unfortunately that happened, but I think that gave us the upper hand. I think our six were better than their six.”
Mason finished with 13 points, and it was his back-to-back 3s that produced the winning target score. Mayo led JHX Hoops with 25 points despite going 3 of 9 from 3-point range, and after Mason’s final shot he circled the court blowing kisses toward Wichita State fans.
“You can call them ‘endgame heroes,’ whatever you want to call them,” Collins said. “When that fourth quarter comes, it’s winner time.
They lock in, and those guys (Mayo and Mason) go carry us to a victory. So those two were big for us today.”
JHX general manager Stephanie Temple said the team would either fly charter or take a bus to Lexington on Tuesday for the semifinal against Kentucky on Wednesday night.
Asked about the level of tension in the tournament, Temple called it unfortunate.
“I mean, it’s not ideal, and it’s unfortunate because it’s supposed to be a fun tournament that these guys get to come back and play in front of their fans and their crowd. For someone to act like that to get it to that level is just - I don’t know. ... It’s just unfortunate,” she said.
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