BYU Basketball Player Nick Emery Ejected for Punching Utah Player Brandon Taylor and Then Taunting Him

This was so uncalled for.

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Complex Original

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Aren’t BYU athletes supposed to be, like, nice?

Well, there was nothing nice about what BYU freshman basketball player Nick Emery did late in a game against Utah last night. With his team trailing by double digits and less than two minutes left on the clock, Emery was standing next to Utah player Brandon Taylor under Utah’s basket when, seemingly out of nowhere, he wound up his left arm and clocked Taylor. He then stared Taylor down and said something “very foul,” according to Taylor, before the referees stepped in and handed Emery a flagrant 2 foul and ejected him from the game.

Utah fans were understandably angry about the punch and spent several minutes throwing things on the court. Taylor later called it a “dirty” play—um, duh?—and said, “I don’t have respect for guys like those.”

Check out the play in the Vine above. We should point out that this incident took place less than three months after a BYU football player appeared to punch a Boise State player in the groin. Is this really what BYU is all about?

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[via Sporting News]

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