K-State AD offers apology after court storming

Feb 24, 2015 - 8:18 PM Manhattan, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Kansas State athletic director John Currie offered an apology Tuesday after its students stormed the court in the wake of Monday night's upset of Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Wildcats pulled off a 70-63 victory over the eighth-ranked Jayhawks on Monday and the students rushed the floor after the contest.

There were no incidents between fans and players, but Kansas coach Bill Self was pushed against the scorer's table as he was trying to shake hands with Kansas State coach Bruce Weber.

"On behalf of President Schulz and K-State athletics, I apologize to athletics director Sheahon Zenger, coach Bill Self and the KU basketball team for the unfortunate situation in which they were placed last night at the conclusion of our basketball game," Currie's statement read.

"Our security staff, which in similar past postgame celebrations has, according to our procedures and rehearsals, provided a solid human barrier to allow the teams to conduct a postgame handshake and safely leave the court, was unable to get into proper position quickly enough last night and was overwhelmed by the fans rushing the floor.

"K-State prides itself on providing a great game atmosphere in a safe environment and did successfully execute our security plan when we defeated KU last year in Bramlage as well as in 2011. Although no one was hurt last night, we fell short of our expectations for securing the court and escorting KU to its locker room without incident. We are disappointed that we did not do better for the KU team.

"We are reviewing our procedures internally and consulting with our law enforcement partners to determine any steps necessary to improve our gameday security."

Self said after the game that he was not against fans storming the court, but said better security measures need to be in place to allow opposing teams to exit.