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Chinanu Onuaku apologizes for spitting, inciting fight following matchup in TBT

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater07/30/24samdg_33
Chinanu Onuaku (The Ville), Andrew Harrison (La Familia)
Kentucky Sports Radio

The rivalry runs deep between Kentucky and Louisville every time they meet up. However, following the game between La Familia and The Ville in The TBT on Monday, things went a little too far.

Following the 70-61 win for the Wildcat alumni over the Cardinal alumni, Chinanu Onuaku came up to Nate Sestina to tell him to stop throwing the L’s Down hand signal that has become a point of contention between the two programs. When Sestina and the former UK players continued, Onuaku spat in their direction. That led to a shoving match and a near all-out fight under the basket inside Freedom Hall.

Now, Onuaku has shared an apology for the behavior in a tweet this afternoon.

“I want to apologize for my actions following last night’s game. I let my emotions and pride for my university overcome me in the moment,” wrote Onuaku online. “I love my UofL and I love this town. L’s up.”

This comes after a pair of tweets following the loss last night where Onuaku didn’t feel his side of the story was told.

The incident between the two teams as well as the spit are below.

Again, Kentucky vs. Louisville means everything to just about everyone in the bluegrass state. That is evidenced by the tournament record for attendance coming out of this game with 13,506 people. That number almost doubled the previous mark of 7,202.

It’s even more meaningful considering the players on both sides and what they meant to each school. For Kentucky, it’s a collection of well-known names like Eric Bledsoe, Willie Cauley-Stein, and the Harrison Twins among many others. As for Louisville, their roster features all-time beloved players like Russ Smith, Peyton Siva, and Montrezl Harrell.

The Basketball Tournament hyped this as the biggest game in the history of their event. It lived up to it too as La Familia took the nine-point win in enemy territory.

Louisville had some quality performances with Onuaku posting a huge double-double of 14 points and 22 rebounds while Smith had 22 points and five assists. Still, Kentucky once again bested their rival behind 22 points off six threes to go with eight rebounds from Sestina and a 20-point, nine-rebound, four-steal line from Cauley-Stein. That helped create a cushion that Andrew Harrison would cap off with his elam ender at the target score of 70.

There are few things more disrespectful than outright spitting at someone, regardless of the context of it. Onuaku has owned up to it, though, with this acknowledgement of it after the fact.