Wednesday's SEC matchup between Auburn and South Carolina was marred by a total of 53 fouls, including eight straight against Auburn to start the second half. But the action was not limited to the court.
Michael Hardin, a 41-year-old three-year baseline season ticket holder, was ejected by referee Ted Valentine early in the second half, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
"I don't use profanity or anything like that," Hardin told the Advertiser. "Everybody was pretty frustrated and yelling at him the whole time anyway. It was just kind of my time I guess and I told him 'you got to blow your whistle [against South Carolina].' He didn't like that."
Hardin, who did not leave the arena, told the Advertiser there was "no kind of altercation" with Valentine, and when he was ejected he was seated in his courtside seat. He also said security personnel did not speak to him.
Chris Denson scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help Auburn beat South Carolina 83-67 on Wednesday night and end a two-game skid. Allen Payne had 15 points and Tahj Shamsid-Deen added 14 for the Tigers (13-13, 5-10 Southeastern Conference) in a battle between two of the bottom three teams in the league standings. Auburn won both regular-season meetings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
