Southern Miss vs. Arizona State Fight Video: Watch Ballers Exchange Punches

Given what we saw between Xavier and Cincinnati, this fight is not that bad. Still, while it didn't turn into a full-fledged riot, let's call it what it was: It was one sucker punch, followed immediately by another. 

I know that, over the course of a game, elbows are thrown and players get frustrated. I get all of that. But that's over the course of every single basketball game at every level. These kinds of things don't happen in every game. When they do, the players involved need to receive stiff punishment. 

It started when Southern Mississippi's Torye Pelham landed a certain cheap shot on Arizona State's Ruslan Pateev. No excuse for that. If Pateev had retaliated immediately, I would say that his response was okay. But that's not what he did.

Instead, Pateev grabbed Pelham as he was running up the court and punched him in the back of the head. 

I don't care who started the testy play on the court or that Pelham threw the first punch. These players each need to be suspended for a minimum of three games. These are adults. Everyone makes mistakes, but you have to pay for those mistakes when you make them. That's what these two players need to learn. 

What happens on the court is one thing. That's what the referees are there for. Hard fouls happen, and if they're hard enough, the referees will call a technical or flagrant foul.

But that's over the course of a game. This is not.

This is not even two players willingly engaging in a fight. This is just two sucker punches. There's no other way to spin this. 

We can only hope that the people disciplining these players agree.

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