The crowd at Bud Walton Arena gathered with about three minutes left in Arkansas’ eventual five-point win over Duke. Well, the young adults in the crowd gathered, anyway.
When the final horn sounded, they stormed Nolan Richardson Court, having knocked off the No. 7 team in the country, a blue-blood of the sport and on the celebration of the anniversary of their school’s national championship win over those same Blue Devils 30 years earlier.
The night was one to remember as it was almost midnight before the last of the crowd had cleared.
Then Thursday came and with it the expected: a bill for proverbial damages.
The Southeastern Conference fined the university to the tune of $100,000 for the physical display of excess emotion. The court rush goes against the league’s policies.
The fine is the third fans have caused in just over two years. They rushed the field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium after a win over Texas in 2021 and then did the same in the winter against top-ranked Auburn during basketball season.
Arkansas’ next game is Monday against Furman.