UConn-Creighton game at Big East tourney ends with heated skirmish

NEW YORK (AP) — A scuffle broke out at the end of Creighton's victory over UConn in the Big East Tournament semifinals on Friday night after Jamiya Neal threw down a needless dunk for the Bluejays in the final seconds.

Huskies guard Hassan Diarra shoved Neal in the chest and appeared to square up with his fists for a split second as the two were face-to-face. Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner separated them by pushing Neal away as whistles blew and players came streaming off the benches at Madison Square Garden.

“I mean, they were already up with 7 seconds left. He didn’t want to dribble the ball out. Went in for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball,” Diarra said.

With the second-seeded Bluejays leading 69-62, they rebounded a UConn miss with under 10 seconds left and Huskies coach Dan Hurley signaled for his team to let the clock run out without fouling.

Neal, however, took off streaking down the left sideline for a fancy slam with 1.5 seconds remaining and hung on the rim for a pullup. After his skirmish with Diarra, Neal waved his arms to fire up Creighton fans in the sellout crowd.

Officials restored order pretty quickly. Diarra and Neal received double technicals, and UConn reserve forward Jayden Ross was ejected for coming off the bench.

“I got caught up in the emotions of the game. Just a lot of emotions going on. So I would like to apologize for that,” Neal said. “I respect Coach Hurley and those guys over there. They have a great, great program. ... Yeah, I apologize. Just got caught up in the moment, and I shouldn’t have did it.”

Hurley and Bluejays coach Greg McDermott were already approaching each other along the sideline to shake hands when Neal took off for his dunk. McDermott appeared to apologize to Hurley immediately afterward, and again when the game ended.

Connecticut assistant Luke Murray did appear to exchange a few unpleasant words with McDermott, however. Murray is the son of actor Bill Murray, who sat in the stands behind the UConn bench.

Creighton beat the third-seeded Huskies 71-62 and advanced to face sixth-ranked and top-seeded St. John's in the title game Saturday night.

Creighton is 0-4 in Big East championship games since joining the league for the 2013-14 season.

UConn, the two-time defending NCAA champion, won the Big East Tournament last year.

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Creighton head coach Greg McDermott smiles during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UConn in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

UConn head coach Dan Hurley argues with the referee during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Creighton in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) dunks the ball in front of UConn's Liam McNeeley (30) and Hassan Diarra (10) as teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) watches during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) exchanges words with UConn's Hassan Diarra (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) exchanges words with UConn's Hassan Diarra (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir's death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He'd spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead's youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys' Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)