Arizona AD Apologizes for Fans' 'Unacceptable Chant' Against BYU During Wildcats' Loss

Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois issued an apology to BYU after video surfaced of Wildcats fans participating in a derogatory chant following the Cougars' 96-95 win in Saturday's men's basketball game.

"Following tonight's men's basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred," Reed-Francois said. "On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened."

ESPN's Myron Medcalf noted video showed that Arizona fans "chanted an expletive and 'Mormons' toward BYU, the flagship school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as players exited the floor."

The chanting came at the conclusion of a heated game with a questionable finish that left Arizona fans upset with multiple calls down the stretch.

The first one came with 12.5 seconds remaining when Wildcats guard Caleb Love was not ruled to be in the act of shooting when he scored what would have been an and-one basket. He still hit both free throws to give the home team a 95-94 lead, but that advantage lasted just one possession.

BYU's Richie Saunders drew a foul from Arizona's Trey Townsend on the ensuing trip down the court and hit both free throws to give his team the lead for good.

Fans, players and Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd were upset with what they believed was a poor call, and Medcalf noted players had to be separated after the game.

"It's a bad call. I mean like, whatever. What am I going to say?" Lloyd said after the game. "You hate for a game to be decided by that.

Arizona and BYU will not play each other again this season unless they match up in the Big 12 or NCAA tournaments.

The sides split their two games this season with the road team winning each time.