Florida fans removed from courtside seats after in-game incident with UK’s Cason Wallace

Several Florida fans sitting courtside at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville were removed from their seats Wednesday night following an incident with Kentucky freshman guard Cason Wallace.

Wallace was attempting to chase down a loose ball during the second half when he entered the courtside seating area, and became tangled up with one fan’s arm while attempting to re-enter the court.

The incident happened with about 14 minutes to go in Wednesday’s game, and with the game tied at 50.

Kentucky eventually defeated Florida 82-74 with Wallace scoring eight points and dishing out six assists. Wallace played 38 minutes in the win.

The fans were removed from their seats after a minutes-long delay while game officials reviewed footage of the incident.

No fouls or technical fouls resulted from the incident, although the video review of the incident was initiated after complaints from the UK bench, including from assistant coach Chin Coleman.

Following the game, UK head coach John Calipari was asked by the Herald-Leader about the incident, and how it was explained to him.

“My whole thing was, you know, come on … The guy grabbed him around the, you know. But anyway, it’s fine,” Calipari said. “That game was a roughhouse game.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 8:46 PM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription