For the third time in a month, a college basketball fan has been involved in a heated or violent altercation on or near the court, as a UC Santa Barbara fan stormed the court Thursday night and shouted in the face of Hawaii coach Gib Arnold.
During a stoppage of play in the first half of the game, aired on ESPNU, a man wearing a navy UCSB t-shirt ran onto the court and right up to Arnold. It is not clear what he was so worked up over, but the man angrily shouted into the coach's face before being pushed away by a Hawaii basketball player.
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"It was a little crazy to have a fan pushing your players around. I've never seen it. You don't expect it," Arnold told reporters after the game, according to ESPN.
Hawaii guard Brandon Spearman was called for an intentional foul, which compelled Arnold to argue with the officials. At the point where a Hawaii player starts leading Arnold back to the bench, the fan left his seat and sprinted on to the court.
Hawaii's Christian Standhardinger and Garrett Nevels shoved the man away before he left the court gesturing for them to come after him. Someone who appeared to be a security guard escorted him from the stadium.
UCSB spokesman Bill Mahoney said the fan, who appeared to be a student, was arrested by campus police. If he is a student, he could be expelled or face another serious disciplinary consequence.
"Historically when things like this happen, the student, who was arrested, would go in front of Judicial Affairs, which is part of Student Affairs," Mahoney told ESPN. "The extent of his punishment would be speculation, but I would doubt it will be mild."
The incident is two weeks after a fan altercation resulted in suspensions of two New Mexico State players and a month after Marcus Smart shoved a Texas Tech fan in his courtside seat.
"It doesn't concern me,'' Arnold said. "It's rare. I hope security would be better. The guy was wasted and in a different world. It is what it is. You can't control crazies. That's why they're crazy."
