Hunter Dickinson sent off for Flagrant 2 foul vs. Duke after controversial review

On By Littum

Kansas forward Hunter Dickinson was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul mod Duke after a longer review. He seemed to kick Duke forward Maliq Brown in the head as they fought for a rebound.

Dickinson and Brown went up for a board with 10:26 to play in Saturday’s second half Vegas Showdown game. In the fight for the ball, Dickinson hit Brown on the side of the head with his right foot, which was initially considered a flagrant 1.

However, the referees went to the monitor and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2. This meant that Dickinson was ejected for the rest of the match.

On the ESPN broadcast, Fran Fraschilla expressed his surprise at the decision to upgrade the bug to a Flagrant 2. He disagreed, saying he would have stuck with a Flagrant 1, based on how he saw it.

“The rule is that it has to be serious and extreme,” Fraschilla said Karl Ravech. “I would have given it a Flagrant 1, it’s a set piece technique. I’m surprised it’s a Flagrant 2. … They felt it was serious and extreme. I felt it was over the top, which is a flagrant 1.”

Hunter Dickinson was in the midst of another impressive game for Kansas at the time of his ejection. He had 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes of action. He initially remained on the bench after the umpires ejected him, but at the next media timeout he was escorted to the locker room. As a rule, players are not allowed to be benched after a draft.

Kansas entered Tuesday’s game ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 5-0 record, including a home win over North Carolina at Phog Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season. However, the Jayhawks faced another big task with Duke, led by the projected No. 1-choice Cooper Flag. After Dickinson’s departure, the Blue Devils went on a run and eventually took the lead heading into the sub-4 minute media timeout.