UCLA player arrested for incident with fan during loss to Arizona

After UCLA’s loss to Arizona on Thursday, a player was arrested and accused of spitting on a fan.

As the Bruins walked off the court, Mac Etienne appeared to spit at fans before a security guard pulled him aside. University of Arizona police took him into custody for assault, but didn’t release many more details.

University police public information officer Sgt. Sean Shields told ESPN the citation was for assault with “the intent to injure, provoke or insult” another person. Handcuffs weren’t used.

“We allowed him to go with the team back to the locker room,” Shields told Myron Medcalf. “And he was arrested for assault.”

UCLA responded to the incident late Thursday night.

“UCLA Athletics is committed to and expects the highest level of sportsmanship,” the school said in a statement. “We are aware of the incident involving a student-athlete at tonight’s men’s basketball game, and the matter is under review.”

Etienne, a redshirt freshman, hasn’t played yet this year for UCLA. He’s a former four-star recruit and was the No. 1 prospect from the state of New Hampshire from the Class of 2020, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

UCLA, the No. 3 team in the country, fell to No. 7 Arizona 76-66 Thursday night for its third loss of the season. The Bruins are getting ready to take on Arizona State Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

More on UCLA vs. Arizona

Arizona shot 48% from the field and had five players in double figures en route to a 76-66 win over UCLA on Thursday.

Kerr Kriisa led the way for the Wildcats with 16 points while Azuolas Tubelis added 14 on 6 of 9 shooting. Arizona went 20 for 30 from the free throw line and 8 for 22 from three-point territory.

On the UCLA side, Jules Bernard dropped a team-high 15 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Bruins shot 38.9% from the field, including just 3 for 14 from downtown.

With the loss, UCLA dropped to 16-3 overall and 8-2 in Pac-12 action. Arizona leap-frogged the Bruins for first place in the league, improving to 8-1 in conference play and 18-2 overall this season.