Watch: Illinois player accidentally strikes official in head
An official was forced to leave Illinois' 71-62 win over No. 5 Michigan on Wednesday night with an apparent head injury.
With 3:13 remaining in regulation, Illinois freshman Kofi Cockburn accidentally struck referee Lewis Garrison on the head while pumping his fist in celebration.
Holy smokes, Kofi Cockburn just smoked this ref in celebration. Ref immediately keeled over. Scary stuff. pic.twitter.com/Wwrs0T4NC3
— Kyle Boone (@Kyle__Boone) December 12, 2019
Garrison eventually walked off the court with assistance, while the other two referees handled the remainder of the game, according to The Post-Standard's Mike Waters. Illinois team doctors cleared Garrison on site, but he was taken to a local emergency room for further evaluation as a precaution, according to The Athletic's Brendan Quinn.
Cockburn, listed at 7-feet tall and 290 pounds, talked about the scary moment after the game.
"In that moment, we were winning and up," he said, according to the Journal Star's Gavin Good. "It was basically just me being me, being passionate about the game."
Cockburn added that he checked on Garrison after the game and was told everything was OK, according to Good.