Alabama, Auburn Speak on the Multiple Skirmishes from Exhibition

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It didn’t even take five minutes before Alabama and Auburn got into a scuffle during the exhibition at Legacy Arena.

The Iron Bowl of Basketball was known as “The Feud” for this preseason event, and it lived up to that name immediately. With 15:29 remaining in the first half, the ball was tied up off a rebound between Alabama’s Keitenn Bristow and Auburn’s Thomas Dowd, as they twisted down onto the floor and fought for possession as if there were a fumble on the gridiron.

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As the remaining players on both teams congregated towards Bristow and Dowd, it turned into a skirmish. Alabama’s Amari Allen and Auburn’s Kevin Overton got into some hand fighting, while Tigers’ George Kimble also had some words. Crimson Tide forward Brandon Garrison was in there as well.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats also got into the scuffle and was screaming at Overton. Auburn head coach Steve Pearl joined in, but was smiling at the chaos. Allen, Garrison, Overton and Kimble each received a technical.

Pearl said during the postgame press conference that it “felt like a Sweet 16 game in October” and that it was a “joke” that this wasn’t on national television.

“Just keep fighting,” Pearl said when asked what he told his players following the first-half scuffle. “Keep your head [up]. Understand that the referees are going to be looking for anything at this point, and you can’t give them an excuse to call any silly fouls.”

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But the skirmishes didn’t end there. After the final buzzer sounded, as Alabama outlasted Auburn 87-85, both teams came to half court and Kimble went at Allen.

“I don’t really know what happened,” Allen said. “I was just in the moment, having won the game, and I just felt something. I’m not sure what happened at all-“

Oats then spoke when Allen was finishing his sentence.

“I was standing right there, I don’t know if he got punched,” Oats said. “They pushed him. Unfortunate that happened to close the game, but he thought he got pushed. I definitely…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alabama-auburn-speak-multiple-skirmishes-034642908.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-23 03:46:00

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