During a college basketball game between Liberty and New Mexico State Thursday, Robert Carpenter, junior forward for New Mexico State, was ejected for punching Liberty forward Shiloh Robinson in the face.
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The punch and ensuing ejection occurred barely over eight minutes into the game, when Carpenter and Robinson were jockeying for position to grab a rebound.
New Mexico State’s Robert Carpenter was ejected after throwing a punch vs Liberty. pic.twitter.com/Y7z4a9cTTW
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) February 2, 2024
After Robinson seemed to shoulder-bump Carpenter inadvertently once another Liberty player secured the rebound, Carpenter responded by slugging Robinson in the face with a punch, which knocked him to the floor.
Carpenter was called for a technical foul and immediately ejected from the game, while Robinson was still laying on the floor with his face covered by his hands.
Robinson's violent offense appeared to come out of nowhere; especially because there's no indication that the two players involved had any bad blood prior to the punch.
After the game (which New Mexico State won in overtime, 79-73), New Mexico State head coach Jason Hooten said of the incident, "That's not the way that we're going to do things here... There's just no room, no room for that in the game, at all."
This is far from the first time that New Mexico State's basketball team has made news for something negative. Nearly a year ago, the school suspended its men's basketball program for the remainder of its 2023 season, due to hazing allegations.
Just a few months before that, New Mexico State men's basketball made national headlines for a shooting incident, which involved former Aggies basketball player Mike Peake shooting and killing a University of New Mexico student out of self-defense.
While this is Hooten's first year as the Aggies' head coach, and was therefore not involved in the program's various transgressions last year, this is still not a good look for a program that's clearly still on thin ice.
Hooten said that he expects Conference USA will suspend Carpenter for at least one game, and perhaps for longer, after the punch is reviewed by conference officials.
Carpenter is playing in his first season for New Mexico State, after transferring to the school from Mississippi Valley State. He is averaging 10.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 19.2 minutes per game for the Aggies this season.
