Kentucky head coach Mark Pope rushed onto the Rupp Arena court Friday night to defuse a scuffle during the game against Georgia State. The altercation began when Panthers forward Clash Peters committed a hard off-ball foul on Amari Williams, sending Kentucky’s center to the floor.
A baseline referee immediately called a flagrant foul on Peters. Tensions escalated as players pushed and shoved, prompting Pope to intervene. He crossed the court, separated players, and guided Georgia State’s Zarique Nutter away from the confrontation. A Georgia State assistant also stepped in to help calm the situation.
After a lengthy review of the incident, Peters received a flagrant foul. Additionally, technical fouls were issued to Nutter and UK’s Koby Brea, who retaliated against Peters. Surprisingly, the scorebook noted Peters’ ejection, but no announcement was made in the arena. Peters later rejoined the game, drawing boos from the crowd as Kentucky held a 23-point lead with under five minutes left.
Similarly, UK’s Otega Oweh was listed with a technical foul, though no public announcement about it was made in Rupp Arena.
