This Utah Tech player let his fist do the talking after being posterized.
Chance Trujillo punched Santa Clara’s Allen Graves after being dunked on in the closing minutes of a 90-80 road loss Wednesday night.
Graves rose over a leaping Trujillo to slam home a booming bucket with 1:18 remaining in the second half to put Santa Clara ahead, 86-77.
As Graves celebrated his dunk, he bumped Trujillo and the sophomore guard reacted by whacking Graves in the face with his right hand.
Graves stumbled away for a second before composing himself and attempting to confront Trujillo, but a teammate restrained him.
The referees prevented the teams from brawling, with one referee escorting Trujillo away from the skirmish.
Trujillo and Graves both received technical fouls on the play, along with Santa Clara’s Brenton Knapper.
Graves scored 13 points in 30 minutes for the 8-1 Broncos on a night when they honored Thunder star Jalen Williams, while Trujillo had eight points in 27 minutes for the 5-4 Trailblazers.
Utah Tech has not provided any quotes from coach Jon Judkins on its website as of early Thursday morning, while Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek did not discuss the situation in the video of the postgame press conference posted to the school’s athletic website.
Trujillo, a Utah native, is averaging 11.7 points and 4.4 rebounds this season in his first season with the school after transferring from Snow College.
It’s possible he could face discipline from the Western Athletic Conference, with the Trailblazers’ next game coming Dec. 13 against Justice College.
Santa Clara is aiming to return to its first NCAA Tournament in 30 years, having last qualified for March Madness in 1996.
The Broncos’ lone loss came in a one-point setback to Saint Louis, and they have will twice have chances this season for resume-building wins against perennial power Gonzaga.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
