A last-second altercation marked the end of Friday’s marquee men’s college basketball matchup between UConn and Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinals.
The Bluejays led the Huskies 69-62 with just seconds left at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y. Instead of dribbling out the clock, Creighton guard Jamiya Neal called for the ball in transition and rose up for a double-pump slam that looked like it belonged in a slam dunk contest. Neal also hung on the rim after the dunk.
UConn guard Hassan Diarra took exception. He charged at Neal and immediately shoved him. The two stared each other down and exchanged words before other players got between them.
NEAL WITH A SHOWTIME DUNK AND HASSAN DIARRA DID NOT LIKE IT pic.twitter.com/ociWQtPTrN
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 15, 2025
Diarra was asked about the incident during his postgame press conference. He called Neal’s dunk “disrespectful” given the time and score.
“I mean, you’re already up with seven seconds left,” the UConn senior. “He didn’t want to dribble the ball out. Went for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball.”
Neal led all scorers with 19 points on 6/13 shooting to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The senior Creighton guard seems to play his best against UConn. Neal, who came into Friday’s contest averaging 11.2 points per game this season, notched his career high of 24 points in a 68-63 win over the Huskies on Jan. 18.
