Why was Hunter Dickinson ejected? A closer look at Kansas big man’s foul play

Tuesday night featured a heavyweight duel between the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks and No. 11 Duke Blue Devils. Kansas came out victorious with a 75-72 overtime victory, but one of their star players, Hunter Dickinson, got ejected from the game due to a foul he committed.

Midway through the second half, Dickinson went up for a rebound and then fell to the ground along with Duke's Maliq Brown. The two got entangled and Dickinson kicked Brown in the head. While Brown was given a personal foul for backing himself into Dickinson, the officials gave the Duke star a flagrant-2 foul, ultimately ending his time on the court.

Coaches give thoughts on Hunter Dickinson's ejection

Kicking someone in the head, intentional or not, would present a risk of severe injury. Coaches from both sides agreed that the decision from the officials regarding Hunter Dickinson was correct.

“I didn’t think at the moment and nor now do I feel it warranted a level-2," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game. "In my opinion, it’s probably a coin flip whether it’s a level-1 or a level-2. It’s probably fairly broadly accurate.”

Kansas coach Jon Scheyer shared similar sentiments, albeit heavily leaning towards agreeing with the officials' assessment.

“I saw on the screen that he kicked him in his face, so I think that warrants a flagrant-2," Scheyer said. "I haven’t had a good look or anything more, but that to me was really an easy one.”

Dickinson finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals on 4 of 11 shooting in 24 minutes. This season, he is averaging 16.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks on 53.9% shooting.

Hunter Dickinson will aim for a bounce back performance when Kansas hosts Furman at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

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