Report: Auburn CBB plane turns over mid-flight after near-fight between players | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

by Junna Base November 9, 2024

Stew Milne/Getty Images

The Auburn men’s basketball team will face the Houston Cougars in an early-season showdown on Saturday, but the SEC team reportedly had difficulty getting to Texas for the competition.

The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported Friday that the team’s flight returned home after about 45 minutes because of disagreements between players on the flight that could have escalated into a fight.

Jeff Goodman @Goodman Hoops

According to a source, there was screaming and the boys got in each other’s faces, but there was no actual physical fighting. https://t.co/bl2wpWp5Zz

Goodman noted that the Tigers are expected to fly to Houston on a different flight later Friday.

Jonathan Hardison @WBRC6Hardison

NEW: The flight that appears to be the Auburn men’s basketball team en route to Houston was diverted back to Auburn this afternoon. Audio recordings obtained from air traffic control show a pilot in that airspace telling ATC, “We’ve got a lot of basketball players fighting.”
We reached out to…

It’s safe to say that this certainly wasn’t what the team had in mind when they announced “liftoff” as players boarded the flight:

Saturday’s game is expected to be one of the best non-conference this season. Houston is No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25, while Auburn is No. 11 and looking for a decisive road win that could resonate on Selection Sunday.

The Cougars opened with a convincing 57-point win over Jackson State in their opener, while the Tigers posted a 51-point win in their first game against Vermont. Even against overwhelming competition, the defeats showed how much talent there is on both sides in a season full of wins.

There could be a competition for the bar for both teams on Saturday, but that brings with it another storyline before kickoff.

Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, but a late arrival the night before could change the Tigers’ overall pregame schedule.

Houston is essentially the home team in this game, but it is not an on-campus game. Instead, the two teams will face off at Toyota Center, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.