Kansas indefinitely suspends Silvio De Sousa after Kansas State brawl

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Of all the ugly aspects in the end-of-game brawl between Kansas and Kansas State basketball players Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse, arguably the most disturbing facet flew somewhat under the radar. But Bill Self noticed. “It happened in handicapped seating,” said Self, speaking after the No. 3-ranked Jayhawks’ 81-60 victory over the Wildcats. 

Self on Wednesday suspended junior forward Silvio De Sousa indefinitely for his role in the melee, which occurred in the final seconds of the Sunflower Showdown. The length of the suspension, Self said, is pending the outcome of a review of the incident conducted by both KU and the Big 12.

“As I said (Tuesday) night, we are disappointed in his actions and there is no place in the game for that behavior,” Self said in a news release.

Both Self and K-State counterpart Bruce Weber were unable to give a full evaluation of what happened Tuesday — the head coaches were in the postgame handshake line when the incident took place — but both indicated that their own program shares blame.

Here’s what is known to have unfolded, pieced together through ESPN’s game broadcast, additional footage released by the network after the skirmish and clips posted to social media by journalists sitting behind the basket, where the fight originated.

With three seconds left in the blowout, K-State’s DaJuan Gordon stole the ball from De Sousa just past midcourt. De Sousa chased Gordon down and blocked his shot from behind. But De Sousa didn't leave well enough alone — he stood over Gordon for several seconds.

That’s when Wildcat freshman forward Antonio Gordon flew into the picture, shoving De Sousa backward and away from the freshman guard Gordon. Other shoves were exchanged while some players and assistant coaches attempted to play peacekeeper — both teams had reserves in the game at that point, though each bench cleared and all of those players were subsequently ejected.

De Sousa appeared to escalate the physicality, throwing the brawl’s first punch in the direction of Wildcat junior guard David Sloan. K-State redshirt junior forward James Love, inactive and wearing street clothes, engaged with De Sousa, and the two appeared to throw punches at one another.

De Sousa then picked up a metal stool and held it over his head before dropping it. De Sousa was finally corralled by Self and Jayhawk assistant coaches, and the approximately 35-second brouhaha settled down.

KU’s Marcus Garrett and David McCormack rushed to a downed Love near the end of the mayhem, though it’s unclear whether the pair engaged with Love physically.

Both teams left the court through opposite tunnels, but officials forced them to return — it was determined De Sousa’s block went out of bounds with one second left, and he was assessed a technical foul for taunting. K-State’s Pierson McAtee converted 1-of-2 tries from the free-throw line to give the game its final score.

While punishments have not been finalized, Self said Wednesday morning on the Big 12 coaches teleconference that KU has had a chance to review “all angles that you could possibly have” of the fight. In a news release, KU athletic director Jeff Long called the Jayhawks' conduct “simply unacceptable and not reflective of who we are.”

Self called his players’ roles in the incident “an embarrassment.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with competition,” Self said Tuesday. “Those were selfish motives on why that took place at the end.”

Weber shouldered a degree of blame for the incident, though he said DaJuan Gordon and the rest of the Wildcats were told not to press in the final moments with the outcome long determined. Self cited “multiple issues with K-State on this front” — an end-of-game dunk by KU’s Brannen Greene during the 2015-16 season in a lopsided KU victory; an end-of-game dunk by Barry Brown last season in a lopsided K-State victory — but didn’t mention any prior moment by name.

This situation is “a little different,” Self observed, as it was the losing team that attempted the meaningless buzzer-beater.

“I’m not sure that it’s the right thing to do, but I’m not going to place any blame on Gordon going and taking (De Sousa’s) ball,” Self said. “I mean, Silvio knew he was being defended and he took his ball, and certainly the way Silvio reacted to him taking his ball, going down and blocking the shot, that’s all fair game. Horn hadn’t gone off yet. But what transpired after that is obviously what set everything off.”

A nationally televised black eye for both programs, Self said if he were a fan, nothing would entice him to watch future college basketball games.

“We’ve seen things like this happen at other places and certainly it gets some attention and you know it’s the exception and not the rule, but still, it’s inexcusable,” Self said. “These things can’t happen.”

The lasting image, it would seem, will be De Sousa lifting the stool.

“I was there when that happened, yeah,” Self said. “Which is, regardless of what happened, it’s a terrible image and there will certainly be consequences for that.”

“We’ll accept responsibility for the role in which we played, and obviously we did play a role," Self said in the conference call. "I’m not saying K-State was innocent on this by any stretch. But I am saying I’m going to comment on our situation.

“I’m not saying they’re guilty; I’m just commenting on our situation, (and) in what I can potentially have influence on. That would be the actions of our guys, regardless of what has transpired — always having discipline and keeping a cool head and being responsible and being unselfish."