In a highly anticipated matchup between the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks and the No. 11 Duke Blue Devils, the game took a dramatic turn when Kansas center Hunter Dickinson was ejected for kicking Duke's Maliq Brown in the head during the second half. The incident occurred as both players were vying for a rebound, with Brown being assessed a personal foul for backing into Dickinson.
Dickinson's kick resulted in a flagrant-2 foul, leading to his ejection from the game. Despite initial disagreements over the severity of the penalty, Kansas coach Bill Self expressed his opinion that the decision could have gone either way between a flagrant-1 or flagrant-2. The officials justified their call by deeming the kick intentional and noting that Brown's head made contact with the floor.
