The Auburn Tigers’ team plane turned around 45 minutes into its flight to Houston for Saturday’s game with the Cougars due to reports of an in-air fight between players.
The No. 11 Tigers (1-0) are set to play the Cougars on Saturday and the game is still on, though it’s not clear if Auburn will head to Houston Friday night or Saturday morning.
The in-air dramatics, however, put an end to the original flight.
Per Jonathan Hardison of WBRC-TV, the flight was diverted back to Auburn after air traffic controllers were told by the pilot that “we have a bunch of basketball players fighting.”
Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 also reported it but termed it “horseplay” between players that “could have escalated into a fight.”
Later, he reported that no actual fists were thrown.
As it’s the age of social media, Auburn posted photos of hits players boarding the plane before the original flight.
Auburn, coached by Bruce Pearl, won its season opener over Vermont, 94-43, earlier this week. The Tigers are playing the Cougars in a neutral site game at the Toyota Center, the home of the Houston Rockets.
The No. 4 Cougars, led by coach Kelvin Sampson, are coming off a 97-40 win over Jackson State in its season opener earlier this week. L.J. Cryer led the way for the Cougars in that contest with 16 points.
Houston won the Big 12 regular-season title last March, lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament championship game and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
