College Basketball

Daily Buzz: Hawaii AD injured while trying to break up women's hoops brawl

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:04 p.m. ET

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Sam Gardner

University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay was injured Sunday while attempting to break up a brawl in the stands immediately after the women's basketball team's 59-56 lost to West Virginia.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The incident occurred during the finals of the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic. The paper cites sources claiming the skirmish was sparked by a Hawaii fan who tried to attack a West Virginia assistant coach as arena staff prepared for the trophy presentation on the court.

"He was heckling the whole game," West Virginia coach Mike Carey told the paper. "And people can do that, that's no biggie. He came down from the stands trying to go after my assistant coach. That's what happened. And then somebody grabbed him, stopped him and he kept trying to go, and people fell. That's when all the commotion started."

In an effort to keep the melee from escalating, Jay jumped into the stands to intervene. Unfortunately, he became a victim instead, and was treated on the court for a reported 10 minutes after emerging from the fracas. Jay described his injuries to the Star-Advertiser as a "œbig bruise"€ and said back spasms left him immobile on the court, though he eventually left under his own power.

"He was either stomped, hit with a chair or punched," Hawaii coach Laura Beeman said. "He was in the middle of it, but he did a remarkable job of trying to break things up. People lost their minds. Talk about mob mentality. People were looking for a reason to fight and be ignorant. I hope Ben is OK, but he got hit really good."

In the video below, you can see the action, on the right side of the screen just behind the West Virginia bench:

This tweet from West Virginia radio host Jeff Culhane also shows some of the aftermath of the scuffle:

Let it never be said again that no one cares about women's basketball.

Now, for some links:

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-- What is life like for a professional dunker?

-- Barack Obama left a surprise note for the Maryland women'€™s basketball team:

Pretty cool note left for our @umdwbb team by @BarackObama! pic.twitter.com/NHGu8fWd3i

-- This NASCAR fan is going all-in with his mustache:

Good morning! This week, consider growing a NASCAR mustache. http://t.co/zTUz9Xqaq1 pic.twitter.com/qBPnE5HOZj

-- Arthur Blank says he'€™s backing the coach and GM despite the Falcons'€™ disaster season.

-- One of Tom Brady'€™s bodyguards got a prison term for shooting at photographers.

-- The American flag couldn't handle the wind during the national anthem at Sunday'€™s Bills game:

Field-size US flag ripping apart at end of Anthem before #Bills vs #NYJets pic.twitter.com/sgHqBDfzsT

-- The before-and-after images of the weather at Sunday'€™s Bears-Ravens game are incredible:

At Soldier Field. This is daytime in Chicago right now. Earliest game start here would be 1:25 CT. pic.twitter.com/cB8fnsVwC9

Remember my last photo? Well, never mind. Lovely afternoon here in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/smhmyZi89H

-- Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy busted a move after his team beat Texas on Saturday.

-- Another day, another 100-point game for Grinnell'€™s Jack Taylor. Yawn.

-- The radio call from Auburn'€™s stunning game-winning touchdown against Georgia really was awesome:

-- Florida coach Will Muschamp lost a fight with a chalkboard during Saturday'€™s loss to South Carolina.

-- At least 10 people were hurt when fans at the Coliseum rushed the field after USC'€™s win over Stanford.

-- Rasheed Wallace can still dunk'€¦ if you call this dunking:

-- Get your flag out of LeSean McCoy'€™s face:

-- Alabama goes above and beyond to defend its trademarks.

-- Dion Waiters has been sidelined with a mysterious illness.

-- A fan on the field got absolutely leveled by an Oklahoma state trooper:

-- Nic Batum kindly requests that you remove yourself from his way:

-- Ohio State damaged the visitors'€™ locker room at Illinois getting hyped for the game.

-- This British man has quite the fish story.

-- This guy has a real thing for MJ:

"Our twitter follower @ToGood4_YouKIDZ 's back tattoo. " pic.twitter.com/CFJWOJq7Pf

-- The backboard gets an assist on Brandon Jennings'€™ alley-oop to Andre Drummond from Friday:

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