Thanksgiving week in America’s two most visible college sports tends to be night and day in terms of its differences. In football, it’s the season’s climactic week, loaded with visceral hatred and occasional fisticuffs. In basketball, it’s the laid-back, good vibes week of Maui, Atlantis and other tropical tournaments.
Two teams that certainly did not get that memo are Jacksonville and Robert Morris, whose Friday afternoon matchup produced the strangest game of the Division I men's season so far.
With 6:21 left in the contest, the 2-2 Dolphins held a 53-52 lead over the 1-3 Colonials in Moon Township, Pa. when chaos broke out. Jacksonville took a timeout, and jawing between the teams erupted into a scrum, with both benches clearing.
Both benches just got ejected.
— Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) November 24, 2023
We have people in foul trouble.
True 5-on-5 basketball. If somebody fouls out, it’ll be 5-on-4.pic.twitter.com/5txNu2M4Nc
Officials responded by booting the entirety of both team benches from the contest, forcing both the Dolphins and Robert Morris to ride out the entirety of the final six minutes with just five players. Jacksonville wound up pulling out a 74-65 win.
The sequence recalled other similar instances in college basketball history, such as Alabama's memorable 3-on-5 adventure against Minnesota in Nov. 2017.
