Arizona excuses fans’ chant focused on BYU

• Myron MedcalfFeb 23, 2025, 09:48 AM ET

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  • Covers college basketball
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011
  • Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

Arizona has excused a negative chant focused on BYU following the Cougars’ 96-95 upset of the No. 19 Wildcats in Tucson on Saturday night.Per video of the

incident, Wildcats fans shouted a curse and “Mormons” towards BYU, the flagship school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as players left the flooring. It topped a disorderly surface that consisted of questionable foul calls and angry coaches and players.

“Following tonight’s guys’s basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an inappropriate chant occurred,” Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a declaration. “On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we ask forgiveness to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and must not have actually occurred.”

Emotions flared at the McKale Center toward the end of a wild game. Down by a point, Arizona’s Caleb Love appeared to score and draw a nasty with 12.5 seconds on the clock, however authorities ruled that he wasn’t in the act of shooting when the foul happened. Unlike the NBA, college basketball does not have a continuation guideline. The NCAA rulebook specifies that “the act of shooting begins concurrently with the start of the try and ends when the ball is plainly in flight.”

Love sank both complimentary tosses to give Arizona a 95-94 edge. On the other end, authorities drew boos from the crowd when they called a nasty on Arizona’s Trey Townsend that sent out BYU’s Richie Saunders to the charity stripe. Saunders made both complimentary tosses with 3.2 seconds to play to provide his team the 96-95 advantage and seal the win.Players from

both teams had to be separated after the game as they approached the handshake line.Arizona coach

Tommy Lloyd slammed the nasty call that led to BYU’s game-winning totally free throws but also said the call wasn’t the factor the Wildcats lost.

“It’s a bad call. I indicate, like, whatever. What am I going to say?” Lloyd said after the game. “You dislike for a game to be chosen by that. I suggest, [Townsend], I feel terrible for him. Guy didn’t play in the 2nd half. I tightened the rotation. He played good defense. [Saunders] is rotating, pivoting, rotating. Throws his shoulder at him. Throws up a shot and falls down. It’s a nasty with 2 seconds to go.

“Listen, it’s the Big 12. That’s what I’m told. And the guy who called it is one of the best refs. So we’ve got to live with it. But step back. They scored 93 points up to that point on our home court. That’s the issue.”