Three Florida fans ejected after grabbing Kentucky’s Cason Wallace around neck

Three Florida fans ejected after grabbing Kentucky’s Cason Wallace around neck

Three Florida basketball fans were ejected during Wednesday night’s game against Kentucky after the fans grabbed Wildcats guard Cason Wallace.

Wallace was trying to track down a loose ball and fell into fans courtside. It appears two of the fans grabbed the Kentucky player as he was trying to get back into the play.

All three fans were removed after officials reviewed the interaction.

One of the fans waved to the crowd – which cheered him

As the fans were ejected, one of them waived his arms to the crowd as they cheered them on.

“My whole thing was, you know, ‘Come on,’” UK coach John Calipari said after the game. “(They told me), ‘Well, we’re gonna throw him out.’ The guy grabbed him around the (neck) … but anyway, it’s fine.”

Oscar Tshiebwe scored 25 points, Jacob Toppin had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Kentucky beat Florida 82-74 on Wednesday night for its third straight victory.

Toppin closed a 15-4 run with a 3-pointer and fast-break dunk to give Kentucky a 74-63 lead with 3:43 left. But Florida scored the next nine points, including six free throws — the last by Kyle Lofton with 1:12 left.

Chris Livingston ended Kentucky’s nearly three-minute scoring drought on a three-point play with 49.1 seconds left. Florida missed a shot in the lane and Toppin sealed it with two free throws.

Antonio Reeves added 16 points and Livingston had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Kentucky (19-9, 10-5 SEC). Tshiebwe, who was 12 of 13 from the field, banked in a jumper in the first half to reach 1,000 career points — the 61st in program history to do so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.