Diamond Stone allowed to stay in game after unsportsmanlike act

Wisconsin fans already had ill-will toward Maryland freshman Diamond Stone before Saturday for choosing to be a Terrapin instead of a Badger out of high school after growing up in Milwaukee.

Stone gave them a legitimate reason to dislike him when he fell to the floor with Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown late in the first half and intentionally pushed Brown’s head into the floor as he got up. Perhaps Stone was annoyed by his performance to that point or the fact that his second-ranked team was losing by 16 points to an unranked opponent.

Wisconsin went on to post a huge upset 70-57 on the road, boosting its hopes for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament next month.

[John Calipari ejected less than three minutes into Saturday’s win]

The unsportsmanlike display irked Brown and his teammates leading to some minor pushing and shoving. The Big Ten officiating crew reviewed the play and somehow decided it was not a flagrant 2 foul, which would have meant ejection for Stone. Instead, officials awarded both teams technicals and allowed Stone to play on. Wisconsin’s Charlie Thomas was charged with the technical foul for the Badgers.

Of course that only made it worse for Wisconsin fans.

[Grayson Allen hits buzzer-beater robbing UVA of rare win at Duke]

Brown got the last laugh with the victory. He led the Badgers with a season-best 21 points and knocked down three 3-pointers for the second straight game. Prior to this two-game stretch, Brown had hit more than one 3-pointer in a game only once all season. 

Stone finished the game with 10 points and four blocks but just one rebound and saw his team’s 27-home winning streak come to an end.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo