Kentucky’s Calipari thrown out of South Carolina game

University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari was ejected from Saturday’s Southeastern Conference game at South Carolina in Columbia.

The Wildcats head man appeared to be unhappy with the physical play allowed under the basket in the early going and expressed his displeasure to referee Doug Sirmons.

Sirmons hit Calipari with one technical foul, then quickly followed up with a second — an automatic ejection — as Kentucky players tried to pull their coach away from the argument.

The ejection came two minutes and 26 seconds after the game began. The Wildcats were leading 5-2 when Calipari was tossed.

This is Calipari’s second ejection at South Carolina in the past three seasons. The UK coach was thrown out during the second half of the Wildcats’ loss in Columbia in 2014.

UK assistant coach Kenny Payne took over the lead spot on the bench in Calipari’s absence Saturday.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Kentucky’s Calipari thrown out of South Carolina game."