Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa will miss 12 games as he was among four players suspended by the Big 12 on Wednesday for their roles in a brawl between the Jayhawks and Kansas State on Tuesday night.
In addition to De Sousa’s suspension, which was the stiffest of the four, the Jayhawks’ David McCormack received a two-game ban. For Kansas State, James Love will miss eight games, while Antonio Gordon must sit for three games.
“This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated and these suspensions reflect the severity of last evening’s events,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. “I am appreciative of the cooperation of both institutions in resolving this matter.”
Additionally, both programs were reprimanded by the Big 12 for players leaving the bench area during the incident.
“As I said last night, we are disappointed in [De Sousa’s] actions and there is no place in the game for that behavior,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a statement earlier Wednesday.
The melee began when De Sousa blocked DaJuan Gordon’s shot in the final seconds of an 81-60 victory and then stood over Gordon. At one point during the brawl, De Sousa, who had thrown multiple punches, held a stool above his head before assistant coach Jerrance Howard grabbed it from him.
The Jayhawks’ Marcus Garrett and McCormack were also in the thick of things along with the Wildcats’ Love and Sloan, who was the first player to come to Gordon’s defense.
“The players told me they went on the court because they thought the game was over,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said on Wednesday’s Big 12 media teleconference.
It took several minutes for tensions to deescalate and the teams to exit the court.
Police officers and coaches from both teams helped break up the fight. Former Kansas star Wayne Simien, an adviser to the team, also ran onto the floor to help break up the fracas. Multiple fans were caught in the fight and scrambled to safety.
De Sousa has been at the center of the team’s current situation with the NCAA, which recently issued a notice of allegations following the forward’s ties to an ongoing FBI investigation.
It outlined major violations in men’s basketball, levied a head-coach responsibility charge against Self and alleged a lack of institutional control. Those violations are being appealed, and a decision is not expected until well after the season.
De Sousa was suspended last season for his role in the case, and he was supposed to sit out this season as well. But the school successfully appealed the decision, allowing the junior forward to return to the court.
Kansas and Kansas State meet again Feb. 29 in Manhattan.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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