It was a Tuesday night and Kansas looked to be closing in on a 20-point home victory over its in-state rival, Kansas State. Viewers at home were dozing off and the crowd was heading for the exits. But then Kansas inbounded the ball.

As Silvio De Sousa walked the ball up the court, prepared to run out the clock, DeJuan Gordon stole the ball and headed to the other end to score. De Sousa chased after him and blocked the shot. De Sousa then stood over Gordon, who had fallen to the floor, taunting him.

That’s when it all started. Kansas St. players arose from the bench and rushed over, some to break up what was then an altercation, others to stick up for Gordon. De Sousa was pushed over, and Kansas players got into the mix. Punches were thrown. De Sousa picked up a stool over his head before putting it back down. Coaches and officials got in the mix to break things up. It was about as bad as it gets. 

Remember, that was all because Gordon stole the ball when the game was clearly out of reach and De Sousa took offense. I don’t know why De Sousa was so mad. It’s not like the score was reversed and Gordon was trying to extend a lead when the game was already essentially over. To me, if you think losing by 19 is notably better than losing by 21, then go for it.

But what I don’t understand is our double-standard when it comes to these kinds of things. We expect athletes to play as hard as possible all the time, but when a team is up 20 in the closing minutes, we expect the players to almost try not to score. We simply can’t have it both ways.

So which way is better? I think it’s the first option. Players should play the game the right way, regardless of what the score is or how much time remains. Go ahead and run up the score if you’re up, and if you’re losing, get as close as you can.

This is more than just basketball, but let’s use basketball as a model. College basketball teams play two games — a total of 80 minutes — every week, and most players don’t play every minute of every game, so they’re going to play hard when they’re out there, regardless of time and score.

And consider the bench players’ role in this situation. Unlike starters, who know they are going to play next time out, bench players attend every practice and team meeting just like everyone else, knowing that each opportunity they get to play could be the final one. Why should they be obligated to run the clock out and not try to get some stats while they’re at it?

In reality, this isn’t youth sports. Everybody doesn’t get a trophy. It shouldn’t matter what side you’re on, as a player, if you’re out there, your goals should be for your team to score or to prevent your opponent from scoring. End of story.