Kansas center Hunter Dickinson made a great impression on Draymond Green in Tuesday's 75-72 win over Duke.
In a game in which the Jayhawks led 57-55 at the time, the Kansas center kicked Duke forward Malik Brown, and both men were on the ground fighting for the rebound.
Dickinson made a short mistake of his own and went over Brown's back trying to grab the rebound. Brown boxed out aggressively and both players tangled and fell to the floor.
Dickinson fell and backheeled Brown in the face, which forced the players to separate and led to a competitive play.
After review, the Jayhawks' 24-year-old leading scorer and rebounder was given a flagrant 2 and was ejected from the game.
“I didn't think Level 2 was warranted at this point, and I still don't think so.” Kansas coach Bill Self said: After the match. “In my opinion, whether it’s Level 1 or Level 2, it’s probably a coin flip.”
Dickinson is currently in his fifth year of college, starting his career at the University of Michigan and entering his second year at the University of Kansas. Accusations of being a dirty player I've followed him for most of his career.
“I saw on the screen that he kicked him in the face, so I think that deserves a vicious two points,” Duke coach John Scheyer said. “It didn’t look like it or anything more, but it was really easy for me.”
Dickinson entered Tuesday's game averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game.
The 7-foot-2, 265-pound center is a key piece for the top-ranked Jayhawks, who failed to reach the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons after winning the 2022 national title.
Dickinson has been productive throughout his collegiate career, averaging at least 14 points per game over five years.
He had 11 points and six rebounds before leaving Tuesday's contest.
Florrie Vidunga replaced Dickinson and had six points and eight rebounds.
“It's unfortunate that an All-American like Hunter had to go,” Kansas forward KJ Adams said, according to the Associated Press. “But I'm glad Flo got the opportunity to show the world what he can do. What he did there, especially a freshman coming in in that big environment, big game, was amazing. He You did really well.”
After his exit, the lead waxed and waned until Duke freshman Con Knuppel hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer on a bank shot, and Kansas finally held on.
Kansas next plays Furman on Saturday in the early season Las Vegas tournament.
