Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly Got A Flagrant Foul For Grabbing An SDSU Player Like It Was A Piggyback Ride

The first half of Friday’s game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the San Diego State Aztecs in the Sweet 16 could be kindly described as a defensive battle. Alabama’s potent offense featuring projected top-5 pick Brandon Miller only shot 27 percent from the field and 1-for-11 on threes. San Diego State did its best to out-shoot its opponent by going 32 percent from the field in the first half. Both teams played a very physical brand of basketball, but sometimes the pressures of a single-elimination tournament can morph physicality into the absurd.

Here is an example of that. With five minutes remaining in the half, Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly went to box out San Diego State’s Nathan Mensah and got a little more than he bargained for.

It’s not often you see a player boxing out called for a flagrant, but apparently, grabbing someone under the butt like you’re trying to give them a piggyback ride is not a basketball play. Then again, you could argue that a piggyback ride should be a common foul and not a flagrant — the contact was not excessive and Quinerly was simply trying to hold his San Diego State opponent in the air so that he would land softly. With Alabama facing elimination and on pace to score a season-low 46 points, it’s hard to blame Quinerly for trying to maximize their possessions.