BYU narrowly escaped with a one-point win over Arizona during its college basketball game on Saturday night. Unfortunately, they were forced to exit the court to a chorus of anti-Mormon chants that rained down from the fans in Tucson.
The university issued an apology for the behavior but it cannot change what happened!
Both college basketball programs are projected to make the NCAA Tournament out of the Big 12 but the game had big implications for conference standings. The Cougars ultimately beat the Wildcats 96-95 in what will go down as an instant classic. Richie Saunders finished with a team-high 23 points in the win. Caleb Love had one of the best nights of his rollercoaster career with a game-high 27 points in the loss.
As could be expected from such a wild and competitive game, tension was high. The McKale Center was rocking from the jump. There were 11 ties and 20 lead changes. BYU scored the most points by a visiting team at Arizona since 2009.
I say all of this to set the scene. It was intense and heated scuffle broke out on the court during the handshake line. Love was at the center of the incident, which started with some chirping and escalated to some pushing and shoving.
byu & arizona scuffle; caleb love pic.twitter.com/rIaYeFmRCT
— ◇ (@H00DH3R0) February 23, 2025
Although the Cougars riled up the away crowd as they made their way back into the locker room, it does not excuse the behavior of the fans — especially the students. Chants of “F— the Mormons” rang out.
Arizona fans after the game
— Church Ball: A BYU Hoops Pod (@churchballpod) February 23, 2025
“Fu** the Mormons” pic.twitter.com/VsAsEz38y1
The University of Arizona issued the following statement in response to the derogatory chant:
Statement from Vice President and Director of Athletics, Desireé Reed-Francois:
Following tonight’s men’s basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred.
On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened.
— University of Arizona
This kind of thing happens more often than it should. Providence fans used the same chant against BYU in December. Oregon lost a recruit because of its anti-Mormon chant in 2022. USC athletics issued a similar apology to BYU in 2021. Even if the chant is used in jest, it is inexcusable!
The post Explicit Anti-Mormon Chant Breaks Out At Arizona Basketball Game Amid Heated Scuffle With BYU appeared first on BroBible.
Explicit Anti-Mormon Chant Breaks Out At Arizona Basketball Game Amid Heated Scuffle With BYU
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