Arkansas fined for storming court after historic overtime win
The Arkansas Razorbacks pulled off a historic upset Tuesday night, knocking off Auburn 80-76 in Bud Walton Arena in front of a record-setting crowd. The overtime win is the first home victory over a No. 1 team in the AP Poll in school history, and led fans to storm the court and draw an SEC fine.
As the final buzzer sounded and JD Notae slammed a self-bounced alley-oop through the rim, the fans stormed the court to celebrate the first home victory over a No. 1 ranked team in school history. As this happened, Auburn’s players and coaches quickly moved to the locker room.
The SEC announced Wednesday that it has fined Arkansas $250,000 for a third offense, which also includes Arkansas’ field storming after an upset win over Texas during the football season. According to the conference, the fine comes “under the league’s access to competition area policy.”
The penalties for court and field storming range from $50,000 to $250,000 based on the number of previous offenses. The policy was adopted in 2004 and has created fines for multiple schools across multiple sports over past seasons.
The money paid by the University of Arkansas for storming the court will go toward the SEC Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund.
Arkansas upsets Auburn
Arkansas’ upset bid over Auburn was led by 28 points, three steals and four blocks from senior guard JD Notae. In addition to his outstanding two-way play, the Razorbacks were able to foul out Auburn center Walker Kessler and guard KD Johnson by attacking the rim and limit the damage done by the Tigers top scorers.
Arkansas center Jaylin Williams, a fan favorite in Bud Walton Arena, scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and two steals as well, going along with backup guard Davonte Davis’ 10 points and five steals.
The crowd played its part too, screaming at full strength for the full 45 minutes of the game, and before tip-off. Things also started early as fans booed the Auburn players who decided to dance on top of the Razorback at center-court. From that point forward, the boos came loud and often, especially when Allen Flanigan touched the ball.
After starting the season on a nine-game win streak, Eric Musselman’s team dropped five of six and looked to be on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament one season after making an Elite Eight run that was ended by eventual champions Baylor. However, the Razorbacks have flipped the script with nine more consecutive wins which feature two top 25 wins, including Tuesday’s over Auburn.