Last night’s showdown between former Kentucky and Louisville players in The Basketball Tournament ended with a postgame scuffle.
“La Familia, the Kentucky team, defeated “The ‘Ville” 70-64 in the quarterfinals of the $1 million, 64-team tournament at Louisville’s Freedom Hall.
Shortly after former Wildcats guard Andrew Harrison wrapped up the victory with a three-pointer, players from both teams engaged in a heated altercation.
La Familia’s Nate Sestina, who played for Kentucky during the 2019-20 season, claimed the fight started when The Ville’s Chinanu Onuaku spit on him.
“Emotions ran high, that’s what this game does to people,” Sestina said postgame, via On3. “It had been great chatter the whole game, nothing crazy, nothing personal. And then it got personal, obviously. Ls down verses Ls up, that’s what this game is. (Onuaku) was just like ‘don’t do Ls down in here’ and I was just like ‘All right.’ Ls down always.
“And then he walked away and stepped at me or whatever, I backwards turned, and then he spit in my face. Mr. Onuaku. I’m gonna leave it at that. Nothing crazy, spit at me. That’s on him.“
You can see multiple videos of the incident, including Onuaku’s apparent spitting, below:
Things got a little intense after the game winner from La Familia pic.twitter.com/HCbcObXM3k
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) July 30, 2024
We nearly had a full-on brawl on the Freedom Hall floor. pic.twitter.com/snMvcVRVqp
— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) July 30, 2024
The spit that started it all… https://t.co/XQpCqvEpxp pic.twitter.com/3HgF0yYxgw
— Kinsey Lee (@kinseyleetv) July 30, 2024
Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed here, but it’s clear that some rivalries never die.
As for La Familia, they move on to the semifinals this weekend in Philadelphia, where they will face Carmen’s Crew, a team of former Ohio State stars, with a trip to the title game on the line.
Related: Donovan Mitchell Sums Up Louisville vs. Kentucky Rivalry