After a chippy ending to their game about a month ago, the University of Utah informed BYU it would not play its scheduled rivalry basketball game next season.
According to ESPN, Utah head men's basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak stated Wednesday evening he came to his decision because of the way the BYU game came to a close. BYU freshman Nick Emery was seen punching Utah's Brandon Taylor late in the fourth quarter of the game on Dec. 2.
"The events that have occurred in our recent games with BYU led me to ask [athletic director] Dr. Hill several weeks ago if we could take a cooling off period and put the rivalry on hold," Krystkowiak said in a statement. "The level of emotions has escalated to the point where there is the potential for serious injury. Chris said he would support me in canceling next year's scheduled game against BYU. I called and let Coach [Dave] Rose know our intentions a few days after our game."
Emery was given a flagrant 2 foul call, which carried an automatic one-game suspension. Regardless, Rose did not agree with Krystkowiak's decision.
"I was very surprised. Shocked, actually," Rose told reporters Wednesday, according to KSL.com. "I've been doing this for 32 years in high school and junior college, now at the Division I level, and we've had hundreds of agreements on games. We've had verbal agreements, handshake agreements, and written contracts.
"This is the first time that I've had one not fully executed. I was surprised."
Utah and BYU play rivalry games in both men's basketball and football. The games are known as the "Holy War" since BYU is owned and operated by the Church of Latter Day Saints and Utah is a public institution, and thus generate a great deal of fanfare.
Unlike the football Holy War, the men's basketball rivalry game has been played every single year since 1909, except 1944 when World War II cut the season short. The all-time series is 129-128 in favor of BYU, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Utah will pay BYU $80,000 for breaking the contract, but ESPN's Jeff Goodman pointed out the rivalry game could be renewed whenever the two sides come to a new agreement.
