New Mexico State college basketball player Robert Carpenter received an immediate ejection during Thursday night’s home game against Liberty. He threw a nasty right hook and will likely receive a lengthy suspension for the very illegal incident.
Carpenter was going at it with Flames forward Shiloh Robinson under the hoop with just over 12 minutes left in the first half of a two-point game. Both players’ limbs were flailing as they jostled for position. However, neither player got the rebound after it bounced off of the rim into the hands of a separate player on the visiting team.
For whatever reason, Carpenter was enraged by his entanglement with Robinson, which seemed a bit more aggressive than most rebounds but was nothing outrageous or uncommon. He unleashed a bomb with his right hand as they turned back up the court and caught the opponent in the face. It was ugly.
Robinson immediately crumbled to the floor and was attended to by the medical staff. Carpenter was issued a Flagrant 2 and hit the showers early. It is unlikely that Conference USA will allow him to return to the court for NMSU’s next game on Saturday. A lengthier suspension would also not be a surprise.
New Mexico State head coach Jason Hooten could not believe Carpenter’s actions and called him a “really good kid,” but firmly established that “there’s just no room for that in the game, at all.”
That’s not the way that we’re going to do things here at New Mexico State University.
— Jason Hooten
Carpenter has not provided any clarity as to what happened at this point. It is unclear as to what triggered him to unleash a powerful punch to the head of Robinson. Hooten didn’t have a chance to speak with him before addressing the media.
Regardless of what inspired his rage, Carpenter’s haymaker cannot happen in college basketball. He will serve a suspension.