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LAS VEGAS - Fighting broke out between rival fans following UNLV's 76-61 victory over Brigham Young in the Mountain West Conference championship game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night, marring the finish and raising questions about the security measures the league enacted for the event.
Nobody was reported seriously injured, but at least one Cougar fan's face was bloodied in the melees, and the wife of BYU's Lee Cummard was seen grabbing the shirts of two UNLV fans trying to run onto the floor. Several witnesses also said they saw Sarah Cummard throw punches. She later declined to comment, but was involved in a heated exchange with Fox 13 sportscaster Rick Aaron and his cameraman.
"It's too bad for that," Lee Cummard said. "Shame on UNLV fans. But, I mean, college students are going to be college students. That's all I've got to say. I didn't see any of it. . . . Shame on BYU fans if it was them, as well."
The Cougars and their coaches were in the locker room by the time the fights erupted in two main areas near the Cougar band - university president Cecil Samuelson had been sitting in one of those sections, but was not seen amid the chaos - seemingly as a result of rival taunting and the initial inability of Rebel fans to storm the floor in celebration. Security guards initially tried to keep fans from reaching the floor, but ultimately relented when it became impossible.
In the meantime, though, congested rivals lashed out at those around them, and angry fans spilled over chairs, down stairs and onto the floor. Several security guards appeared to be attacked, as well.
"We took every measure possible in working with the conference to better security," said arena director Daren Libonati, whose quarterback son is being recruited by the Cougars. "In crowd management, bodies are only as good as people's behavior. . . . You can't control behavior."
Libonati and league officials said they agreed to try harder to keep fans from storming the floor after the game this season, after hearing complaints about the ease with which fans did so last year. A 6-foot security wall was installed, limiting the avenues for fans to reach the floor.
However, Libonati acknowledged that crowd management experts often prefer to allow excited fans to take the field or court, because it usually allows them to more safely vent their excitement. "I don't want to contradict" the conference, Libonati said, "but there's another way to do it."
League commissioner Craig Thompson and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe had left the arena before they could be reached for comment, but the league issued a statement saying it "will continue to evaluate the overall game management plan" for championship games, and that the issue will be addressed during its next board of directors meeting.
UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said he did not see the fights in the stands, but that "once fans make up their mind they're going on the court . . . it's almost impossible to stop them without major injury."
Hamrick and several other officials noted that when the Cougars won the Las Vegas Bowl in football, their fans stormed the field at Sam Boyd Stadium. "Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know," Hamrick said. "But it happens all over the country."
About the fights, he said: "That's very unfortunate. My hope is that once that happens, it's quickly dealt with."