Arizona apologizes for anti-Mormon chants after controversial end to game against BYU

The University of Arizona apologized after its fans shouted derogatory chants at Brigham Young University following an NCAA basketball game.

After a controversial foul call with just seconds remaining in the game, BYU forward Richie Saunders sank two free throws to give his team the 96-95 lead and soon the win.

Arizona fans at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona, were not pleased with the call or the outcome and were recorded chanting "f**k the Mormons" after the game.

'... an unacceptable chant occurred.'

BYU is a private Mormon university in Provo, Utah, named after the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Some fans online claimed BYU fans taunted the crowd, leading to the chant, but such events did not appear to be caught on video.

Shortly following the game, Arizona's athletic director issued as statement characterizing the fan chant as "unacceptable."

"Following tonight’s men's basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred," athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a statement, per the Associated Press.

She added, "On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student athletes, coaches, and fans."

The representative went on to say that the chant was not "reflective" of who Arizona is as a school and said it "should not have happened."

Saunders scored 23 points in the upset over the No. 19-ranked Arizona squad. The teams had identical records coming into the game, but Arizona was considered the stronger team.

The University of Oregon apologized after a similar incident happened during an NCAA football game in 2022. The school said the chant from the student section was "disgraceful."

The fans also reportedly chanted "f**k the Mormons."

"These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition," the school later said, according to KMGH. "We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias, or bigotry."

Similarly, USC also apologized following a football game in 2021, condemning a chant from its student section.

"The offensive chant from our student section directed towards BYU during the football game last night does not align with our Trojan values. It was distasteful, and we apologize to the BYU program," the school wrote on X, then Twitter.

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