Fans boo during pregame display of sportsmanship in Sunflower Showdown rematch
When the national anthem ended early Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum, the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kansas State Wildcats came together at midcourt for a display of sportsmanship.
Every player and coach on both sides shook hands with someone from the opposing team. Then they walked to their benches and took part in starting lineups.
Nothing like that has been done before in the Sunflower Showdown, but everyone thought it was a good idea given how their first game of the season ended last month at Allen Fieldhouse — with players from both teams engaging in a nationally publicized brawl.
Still, not everyone in attendance viewed the pregame handshake as a genuine act of kindness. A decent chunk of the 9,003 fans greeted the exchange with a chorus of boos.
K-State and KU fans, it seems, can hate anything that involves their cross-state rival.
“Obviously, the first one ended with not a special moment in K-State/Kansas rivalry history,” K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber said. “We wanted to make sure this one started with a positive moment of sportsmanship. Hopefully, we can move forward now and worry about the game and how it is played.”
There’s no telling what impact the pregame display of sportsmanship had on the 40 minutes of basketball that followed, but the Jayhawks and Wildcats played a competitive game without the slightest hint of a scuffle.
KU guard Devon Dotson was quick to help K-State Cartier Diarra up off the floor whenever he fell down after a driving play. And K-State players showed concern for KU forward Udoka Azubuike when he injured his ankle during the first half.
There was one moment where the officials handed out double technical to K-State forward Makol Mawien and Azubuike for exchanging some words in the paint. But that was as heated as things got during the Jayhawks’ 62-58 victory.
KU coach Bill Self credited the Jayhawks’ administrative staff for coming up with the idea for the pregame handshake.
“We bot thought it’d be a good idea, so we approached K-State about it and I think they concurred,” Self said. What happened over there at our place was an embarrassment to both teams, both schools, and certainly no place for it.
“But we’ve never had a problem with K-State players and they’ve never had a problem with our players. We’ve had some players do some silly things or some not-so-bright things at the end of the game before but not in the battle of competition. During competition, it’s always been classy. Certainly, I think that was a way to hopefully show people that it’s still just a game, it’s still just a competition. I don’t know how it was received. I think it was received within the players.”
K-State also took great care to help make sure there were no problems with either team as they exited the floor.
The first game ended with Silvio De Sousa and James Love throwing punches behind one of the baskets in Lawrence. Things got so out of hand that four players were suspended for a combined 25 games after taking part in the melee. The rematch ended with both teams exchanging handshakes with a long line of security guards protecting them from fans in every direction.
The focus of the Sunflower Showdown was back to basketball. A pregame display of sportsmanship helped set the tone.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 5:06 PM.