Norfolk State's 64-58 victory over Illinois State was overshadowed by an altercation that occurred midway into the second half of the game.

According to Virginian Pilot reporter Michael Sauls, who posted a recording of the altercation on his Twitter/X page, Norfolk State player Jamarii Thomas was called a racial slur by “one or two” Illinois fans. The incident caused Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones to get upset and he walked on the court yelling in the direction of the fans who accosted Thomas.

Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon confronted Jones at the scorer's table, which led to a larger altercation where players from both teams assembled behind their coaches.

After referees and the coaching staff for both teams settled the altercation, both coaches were accessed with technical fouls and the fans that got into it with Jamarii Thomas were ejected.

In post-game comments obtained by Illinois State student newspaper Vidette Online Editor-In-Chief Scott Perpost, Pedon spoke about the incident and explained why he confronted Jones, saying, “I was upset he was on the floor and I was raising hell with the referees. It was never personal towards him. I'll just leave it at that. I'll take the high road on that. I'm a competitor, man. I'm an Italian, so sometimes my emotions can get the best of me at times, but I don't apologize for my competitive edge and that's how I want our teams to play,”

Jones took to Twitter following the game to speak about the incident, quote tweeting Saul's post of the video, saying, “I’m not letting anybody call my players a racial slur. Those are my kids and I will fight for them. We have come too far in society to be called the N word at college basketball game.”

Jamarii Thomas's mother Aja Thomas also weighed in on the incident, saying on her Twitter, “My son @JamariiThomas is not a “N” word. He deserves everything coming his way. He worked for it. The hate. Adversities. Being overlooked. Been there, done that. God gave us @NSU_BBALL & we are going to embrace this blessing!!”

As of the time of this writing, a statement hasn't been made formally by Illinois State Athletics about the incident.