Louisville-Creighton game delayed after fan throws water on court following Pat Kelsey technical
(This story was updated with new information)
Thursday's NCAA Tournament first-round game between No. 8 seed Louisville and No. 9 seed Creighton was delayed due to a Louisville fan throwing a full water bottle onto the court at Rupp Arena following a technical foul on Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey.
That delay came after Kelsey worked up a heated conversation along the sidelines with one of the officials, resulting in him being assessed a technical foul in a then-73-61 deficit to the Bluejays.
At the 4:40 mark of the second half, a fan from behind the Creighton bench threw a bottle of water onto the court after Kelsey was assessed a technical.
"That was a full bottle of water. That was very dangerous. Right over the Creighton bench. I tell you, whoever did that, should never be allowed to come into this arena again," CBS broadcast Brian Anderson said on the broadcast alongside Jim Jackson.
Jackson said on the CBS broadcast that police at Rupp Arena headed to the section where the fan was sitting to handle the situation.
"It's unnecessary. So you get upset about a call, so what?" Jackson said. "You don't do that."
Kelsey's technical foul led to a four-point play by Creighton to extend its lead to 77-61, as Steven Ashworth successfully hit two free throws at the line and Jamiya Neal hit a jumper.
When asked about the water bottle being thrown on the court after the game, Kelsey said he did not see the incident take place.
"I didn't see it to be honest with you," Kelsey said in his postgame news conference. "I just had gotten the technical and I'm talking to my team and they kept cleaning something up at the other end and I was like, what the crap is going on, and somebody said, throw a water bottle on the court. It's unfortunate. You know, it happened."
Creighton coach Greg McDermott told reporters in Lexington that he felt a splash of the water once it hit the floor at Rupp Arena.
"I felt a splash when it landed," McDermott said. "I don't know what happened on the other end, and that led to the technical..."
Creighton would go on to defeat Louisville 89-75 for the first "upset" of March Madness. The Bluejays will get the winner of No. 1 seed Auburn vs. No. 16 seed Alabama State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 22.