2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl
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The 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, nicknamed the Crosstown Punch-Out, was a
bench-clearing brawl A bench-clearing brawl is a form of fighting that occurs in sports, most notably baseball and ice hockey, in which most or all players on both teams leave their dugouts, bullpens, or benches, and charge onto the playing area in order to fight on ...
that took place at the end of the 2011 edition of the Crosstown Shootout
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
game between the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
Bearcats and the
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
Musketeers A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pr ...
. The game and brawl took place on December 10, 2011, at Xavier's home arena, the
Cintas Center The Cintas Center is a 10,250-seat multi-purpose arena and conference center at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The arena officially opened in 2000 and was constructed through private donations as part of Xavier University's Century Campaign ...
in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, United States.


Background

The Crosstown Shootout is one of the most intense rivalries in
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
, all the more so because
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
and the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
(UC) are only two miles () apart. There has always been a fair amount of
trash talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win e ...
between the two schools, and the 2011 game was no different. On December 8, UC
guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...
Sean Kilpatrick Sean Redell Kilpatrick (born January 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). A 6'4" shooting guard born in Yonkers, New York, during his senior season of 2013–1 ...
told Andy Furman of WQRT that Xavier's
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n guard
Tu Holloway Terrell "Tu" Holloway (born August 21, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Real Estelí of the Liga Superior de Baloncesto (LSB). As a junior at Xavier, he was selected as the 2011 Atlantic 10 Conference player of the year ...
probably wouldn't start for the Bearcats "with the players that we have now." The series had developed a history of bad blood in the years leading up to the 2011 Crosstown Shootout. In 2008, a total of six
technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
s were called in a 76-66 Xavier win. Xavier's Derrick Brown was
ejected Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Sense ...
, and two freshman post players were involved in an altercation that included a heavy dose of foreshadowing: Xavier's Kenny Frease
headbutt A headbutt is a targeted strike with the head, typically (when intentional) involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of an opponent, such as ...
ed UC's Yancy Gates, for which both players received technicals. The altercation set the tone for bad blood between the two players, and may have motivated Gates to seek revenge in 2011. The following year, multiple verbal exchanges resulted in UC clearing their bench, as well as technicals called on Xavier's
Jordan Crawford Jordan Lee Crawford (born October 23, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Manama Club of the Bahraini Premier League. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers and the Xavier Musketeers. His brother is Joe Crawfor ...
and UC's Rashad Bishop in Xavier's double overtime win. In 2010, Holloway received a technical foul for throwing an elbow late in UC's 66-46 win.


The brawl

The 2011 Crosstown Shootout was close at first, with eight ties and six lead changes in the first half. Xavier led 34–25 at
halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...
.Russell, Shannon
Brouhaha mars Xavier's 76–53 win against UC at Cintas Center
''
The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...
'', 2011-12-11.
The first sign of trouble occurred in the closing seconds of the first half, when Bearcat backup Octavius Ellis began exchanging some words with Xavier player
Mark Lyons Mark Steven Lyons (born July 4, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Elitzur Ashkelon of the Israeli National League. He played college basketball for Xavier and Arizona before playing professionally in France, Croatia, Is ...
from the bench. Ellis jumped up from the bench to confront Lyons, and the two players had to be separated. Before the start of the second half, according to Xavier coach Chris Mack, both teams were warned that any further incident would result in
technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
s. The Musketeers started the second half on a 9–2 run and were never seriously threatened afterward.Bench-clearing melee halts end of Xavier's rout of Cincinnati
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
via
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
, 2011-12-10.
Ultimately, the Musketeers outscored the Bearcats 42–28 in the second half. With 18.6 seconds remaining, Xavier's Tu Holloway scored a
layup A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump s ...
to give the Musketeers the 76–53 lead. As Holloway walked to the other end of the court, he began shouting at the Bearcat bench, bringing UC's Ge'Lawn Guyn over to confront him and triggering an argument between both men. As Guyn reached for Holloway's throat, Xavier's Dezmine Wells intervened by pushing Guyn to the floor, causing UC's Yancy Gates to throw the ball at Holloway's head and both benches to empty. In the ensuing fight, Gates punched Xavier's Kenny Frease in the face, opening up a large cut under Frease's left eye and knocking him to the ground. As Frease tried to crawl away from the crowd, UC's Cheikh Mbodj stomped on the back of his head. Ellis threw a punch at Lyons, causing him and Wells to throw several back before coaches got in between them. This brought Gates over, who began shouting and throwing more punches at a Xavier backup, until Xavier assistant Aaron Williams and Lyons calmed him down.ESPN highlights of game
/ref> Referees Michael Roberts, Jeff Anderson, and Tony Crisp ended the game with 9.4 seconds remaining, giving Xavier the 76–53 win. UC's Gates and Mbodj, and Xavier's Wells, were retroactively ejected from the game for fighting. Under
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA) rules, these players were suspended for their next game, a sanction that could not be appealed. Immediately following the incident, both sides were escorted to the tunnels at either end of the court so that they would enter their respective locker rooms. However, due to the chaos of the brawl, both teams entered through the tunnels opposite from where they were supposed to go. This would have resulted in another confrontation in the hallways beneath the Cintas Center stands as both teams would have had to cross each other in the narrow hallway leading to their locker rooms. To avoid this, the Xavier team was corralled into the south tunnel leading out of the main arena. Once the UC players were off the court and had filed through the north tunnel to their locker room, the Xavier players were brought back out and began celebrating with the remaining fans and students still in the stands. This however resulted in an incident between the Xavier players and the Cincinnati fans who began yelling obscenities at one another. Security again had to get involved to keep the two groups away from each other.


Aftermath

UC coach Mick Cronin, furious at how his players behaved, ordered them to take off their jerseys in the locker room, to the point he physically stripped them off from some of the players himself in disgust. In his postgame comments, a visibly angry Cronin said that he told his players not to put them on again "until they have a full understanding of where they go to school and what the university stands for and how lucky they are to even be there, let alone have a scholarship." He also hinted that several players could face suspensions, and possibly dismissal from the team, saying that he was going to review the tape with school president
Gregory H. Williams Gregory Howard Williams is a scholar, attorney, law school professor, author, and formerly the 27th President of the University of Cincinnati (2009 to 2012) and the 11th President of the City College of New York (2001–2009). Early life and educ ...
and athletic director
Whit Babcock Whit Babcock (born June 17, 1970) is the current athletics director at Virginia Tech, a position he has held since 2014. Previously, he was the athletics director at the University of Cincinnati from 2011 to 2014. He previously served in the ath ...
"and decide who's going to be on my team going forward." Cronin also appeared to blame the referees for not taking control of the situation sooner (threats of technicals after the first-half incident notwithstanding), saying that Xavier players were yelling at his bench for the whole game and even cursing at his coaches. Cronin said he tried to call a time-out before the brawl broke out so the players could go to their respective benches, but couldn't get the officials' attention. In the postgame interview, Holloway claimed the Bearcats had "disrespected" his teammates in the run-up to the game. He also said, "We went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game." He also added that he and his teammates considered themselves "gangsters, not thugs, but tough guys on the court." Lyons added, "If somebody puts their hand in your face or tries to do something to you, where we're from, you're gonna do something back." Later that night, Cronin spoke with
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's
Andy Katz Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, and was a regular sport ...
and reiterated that there would be additional suspensions coming. "Nobody is going to walk on our side," he said. He also said the brawl was the most embarrassing moment of his coaching career. Mack was somewhat more restrained in his remarks, saying he wasn't "in a position to be a decision maker," but that his players needed to learn "how to handle themselves and not let that happen again." Earlier, Mack had tweeted, "If my players say they've been taught to be tough their whole life, they mean ON THE FLOOR. Nothing else is condoned." Katz, Andy
Penalties pending after Cincinnati brawl
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
, 2011-12-11.
Both schools' presidents issued statements condemning the brawl. UC's Williams strongly supported Cronin's postgame remarks, saying that the brawl was "not what we expect of representatives of the University of Cincinnati" and that school officials would "act swiftly and firmly" to ensure it would never happen again. Xavier's Michael J. Graham called the brawl "unsportsmanlike" and apologized to Xavier's fans and "the entire Cincinnati community." The
Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
and the Atlantic 10 Conference, the home conferences for UC and Xavier, respectively at the time, also condemned the brawl and promised to hand down additional suspensions if they felt the schools hadn't acted harshly enough. On December 11, both schools announced suspensions for the players involved. UC suspended Gates, Mbodj and Ellis for six games each, and Guyn for one game. Cronin said that the four players would still have to earn their way back onto the team even after they served out their suspensions. At the very least, Cronin said, they would have to sincerely apologize on camera and complete several other unspecified tasks. Xavier suspended Wells and Landen Amos for four games, Lyons for two and Holloway for one. Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski also apologized for Holloway and Lyons' postgame remarks. Mack said that Holloway was suspended specifically for his postgame comments, and admitted that neither he nor Lyons should have appeared before the media. On December 11, Mack, Holloway, Lyons and Xavier Athletic Director Mike Bobinski all apologized for what occurred. Mike Bobinski said, "It was an embarrassment. It was a disappointment at every level. We take full responsibility for the role that we played in those events and are resolved to whatever is necessary to see to it that it never happens again." Holloway also apologized for post game comments, saying, "Myself, I used the wrong choice of words. I represent Xavier University, my family and myself and I really apologize for what took place." The following day, an emotional Gates apologized for his actions, saying they were "not what my family is about." Guyn, Ellis and Mbodj also apologized. Hamilton County prosecutor
Joe Deters Joseph Theodore Deters (born April 4, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who currently serves as Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County, Ohio. Early life, family, and education Deters is a lifelong Cincinnatian. He is one of eight c ...
said he was considering filing criminal charges related to the brawl. Under Ohio law, Deters' office would handle the case if the charges rose to the level of
felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
; Cincinnati city solicitor John Curp would prosecute if they are only misdemeanors. There is no known instance of criminal charges being filed as a result of a brawl at an NCAA game. Two days later, Deters announced he would not file charges, indicating that Gates and Frease had "reached out to each other privately" and that Frease was satisfied with a personal apology from Gates. On that same day, Bobinski used Mack's radio show to again apologize and take questions from fans concerning the incident. On December 18, prior to Xavier's game against
Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...
, Mack took the floor again to apologize for the incident that had occurred in the previous game. Mack said, "We were all embarrassed by our behavior last weekend," and added, "It's extremely disappointing and in no way was a representation of what our university and our basketball program is all about." Partly due to the incident, Xavier and UC officials decided to move the Crosstown Shootout to U.S. Bank Arena for at least the next two seasons and rename it the Crosstown Classic. Player and fan behavior was extensively reevaluated after the 2013 game, and was said to be a major factor in the decision to continue the series beyond the 2013–14 season. On May 12, 2014, the two schools announced a ten-year agreement to continue the series, alternating between campuses, and to revert the name of the series back to the Crosstown Shootout.


See also

*
The Malice at the Palace The Malice at the Palace (also known as the Pacers–Pistons brawl) occurred during a National Basketball Association (NBA) game between the Indiana Pacers and the defending champion Detroit Pistons on Friday, November 19, 2004, at The Palace ...
* Knicks–Nuggets brawl


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosstown Shootout brawl, 2011 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball Xavier Musketeers men's basketball Brawls in team sports College basketball controversies in the United States College basketball games in the United States 2011 controversies in the United States 2011–12 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season 2011–12 Big East Conference men's basketball season 2011 in sports in Ohio Basketball in Cincinnati 2010s in Cincinnati December 2011 sports events in the United States Violence in sports