Lubbock, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Smart, the leading scorer for Oklahoma State, is facing a possible suspension after shoving a fan during Saturday night's 65-61 loss to Texas Tech.
The incident took place with 6.2 seconds left in the game. With the Cowboys trailing by two points, the Red Raiders came up with a steal and Jaye Crockett raced the other way, but was fouled by Smart as he went to the hoop. Smart's momentum took him under the basket support.
With his back to the crowd, Smart apparently heard a male fan, who was wearing a Texas Tech shirt, say something to him. The Oklahoma State sophomore turned around and walked into the crowd to confront the man and then shoved him before walking back onto the court and was clearly upset.
Although he wasn't ejected, Smart was assessed a technical foul and later was escorted to the locker room, this after fans stormed the court as the Red Raiders pulled off the upset of the 19th-ranked team in the country.
Smart has been no stranger to controversy.
Oklahoma State has lost four straight games and hasn't won since Jan. 25 against West Virginia, but in that contest Smart scored a season-low four points before fouling out, and he lost his cool. Cameras caught him kicking a chair on the sideline in the first half. In the second half, he was called for an offensive foul and also took an elbow to the jaw before walking off the court into a hallway.
Smart later issued an apology via Twitter.
The fan in the middle of Saturday's controversy is reportedly Jeff Orr. He's been identified via online video as one of Texas Tech's most devoted fans. A video posted with the school's logo was titled "Texas Tech Basketball's Number One Fan" and in it Orr is interviewed about his travels to Red Raider home and road games.
CBS personality Doug Gottlieb said via Twitter that a Texas Tech friend of his had a text conversation with Orr, who texted that "Yeah, i kinda let my mouth say something I shouldn't have. I feel bad."
The friend asked Orr what he said, but there was no response.
The Tulsa World reported Oklahoma State radio analyst John Holcomb confirmed o to the newspaper that he heard Smart tell Cowboy coaches that the fan called Smart a racial slur.
Smart was not available for interviews after the game. Cowboys coach Travis Ford said he was still reviewing the situation.
"I'm still trying to figure it out," Ford said. "We'll discuss it more after I find out what happened. I haven't seen it yet."
In the postgame press conference, Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said he didn't see the altercation take place.
"You really have to find the film to see what happened," he said. "I assume the officials saw what happened. That's why he got a technical out of it. The frustration when you're losing sometimes on a losing streak, I've been there before, it can be tough. I'm sure he regrets doing that, whatever he did, so things like that happen in the heat of the battle."
So far this season, Smart is averaging a team-best 17.5 points in addition to 5.7 rebounds over 23 games, all starts.
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