It’s been a rough year for Seton Hall basketball. After starting the year 13-3, the Pirates have dropped eight of their last 10 games and are on the outside looking in on the NCAA Tournament.
Things came to a head for Kevin Willard’s squad on Monday night, when Seton Hall got obliterated by Villanova, 80-54. The most notable moment came when the team’s leading scorer—junior guard Sterling Gibbs—was ejected for hitting Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono in the face with his elbow during a scramble for a loose ball. Gibbs was given a flagrant 2 and thrown out of the game. He has since apologized to Arcidiacono on Twitter, but the school has decided to suspend Gibbs for two games due to the incident.
From ESPN:
Seton Hall suspended junior guard Sterling Gibbs for two games on Tuesday, after he was ejected Monday night during the Pirates’ 80-54 loss to Villanova in Philadelphia.
Gibbs was assessed a flagrant foul 2 and ejected for hitting Ryan Arcidiacono in the face during a scramble for a loose ball.
“Sterling demonstrated poor sportsmanship last night, and he recognizes that what he did was wrong and that he must be held accountable for his actions,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said Tuesday in a team release. “This was out of Sterling’s character, and I believe this incident does not define the type of person he is or will become. Sterling will learn and grow from this unfortunate event.”
Gibbs, the Pirates’ leading scorer who is averaging 16.9 points per game, left the game with 4:38 to play after striking the Villanova guard. It was the fifth consecutive loss for a Seton Hall squad that had earned a spot in the national polls earlier this season.
“We support Seton Hall’s decision to suspend Sterling Gibbs for his actions in the Villanova game,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said Tuesday in a statement. “Unsportsmanlike acts like the one that occurred last night have no place in the BIG EAST or college sports.”
