Kansas announces suspensions after brawl ahead of Tennessee matchup

It was an ugly scene at the end of the Kansas-Kansas State game on Tuesday night. The third-ranked Jayhawks were putting the final touches on a blowout win against their in-state rival, when all hell broke loose.

It all started with a Silvio De Sousa block, then a taunt. Then it was on.

De Sousa was seen holding a stool over his head at one point in the brawl. An assistant coach quickly grabbed the stool from him before a bad situation got even worse. Marcus Garrett and David McCormack were also seen in the middle of the scrum.

The fight pushed behind the basket, spilling over into parts of the crowd. It was truly a brutal scene for all of college basketball.

“It’s not something to be proud of,” Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game. “What happened showed zero signs of toughness. It’s a sign of immaturity and selfishness more so than toughness.”

So why should you — a likely Tennessee fan reading this — care? Well, the Volunteers will head to Kansas on Saturday to take on the Jayhawks as a part of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. In a game that Tennessee desperately needs, it’s likely that they’ll be facing an undermanned Kansas team.

“There will be consequences and there will be penalties,” Self said on Wednesday morning. “I’m not at liberty nor do I know at this particular moment what will be appropriate at this time because we are still in the process of discussing it.”

De Sousa is not a main contributor for the Jayhawks, averaging just eight minutes per game. But he was far from the only guilty party here. Expect some sort of announcement from the Big 12 soon.

Update: De Sousa has been suspended indefinitely.

Update: Kansas has also suspended David McCormack for two games.