College rivalries spilled over during the Bulls vs Bucks matchup on Sunday at the United Center. The scuffle saw Dalen Terry thrown out of the game. The Bucks won 127-121, but the altercation overshadowed parts of the game, resulting in Terry’s ejection.

With 33.6 seconds left in the third quarter, Terry was called for a travel violation while driving toward the rim against Prince. As the play ended, the two players became entangled, with Prince holding onto Terry after the whistle. Heated words were exchanged, and Terry attempted to throw a punch at Prince before teammates and officials intervened.

This led to four technical fouls being assessed across both teams, including on Prince, Zach Collins, and Bobby Portis Jr., but only Terry was ejected for the punching attempt.

As it tends to happen, Terry didn’t appreciate the contact. It became immediately obvious when he went Draymond on Prince and made a grab for the forward’s head. They got tied up, trash was talked, teammates got involved, and it was a whole mess.

The Central Division teams were noticeably physical from the get-go. Notably, Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu suffered a cut above his eye, and forward Emanuel Miller lost part of a tooth.

Terry had only played six minutes at that point and had not made a single stat except a turnover. Prince had six points and one rebound in the 14 minutes he played.

This likely won’t stop him from playing Tuesday’s exhibition against the Denver Nuggets. But it begs the question why this preseason brawl happened.

Questions about Dalen Terry loom

Dalen Terry played for the Arizona Wildcats before he was picked 18th overall in the 2022 NBA draft. Although his college career didn’t overlap with Taurean Prince, the 31-year-old veteran is a Baylor alum, the Wildcats’ Big12 rivals. Did that factor in this dust-up? Who knows! But you can tell the pressure is on Terry.

Terry spent most of his career with the Windy City Bulls, the team’s G-League affiliate. If the rumors are to be believed, he won’t be playing much this season. The Bulls are reportedly making major roster moves, and Terry doesn’t fit in their rotation. Insiders claim they will not offer an extension when Terry’s four-year rookie contract expires at the end of the season.

It’s also a little grim if free agency will do Dalen any kindness. He’s averaged 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists and seen his minutes cut down this past season. The Bulls haven’t opened the floor for negotiations yet. If Terry gets any minutes this season, his goal would probably be to leave an impression that would draw either the Bulls or another team’s contract.

Before the Bulls vs Bucks preseason game, he was positive as he told a Chicago news outlet, ‘‘Hell, yeah, it’s a big year for me.’’ He’s probably banking on his defensive skills for that, which is arguably better than his lackluster offense. He didn’t score a single digit on Sunday, but at least he showed he can be that enforcer.

Although the scuffle was pretty ugly, the ejection might seem like the refs went zero to 100 very fast. The 23-year-old did reach for Prince, but it’s hard to say he was going to throw a punch or grab him. Most Internet onlookers can’t even believe this happened in a preseason game, which rarely gets this heated.

The Bucks, who are reeling from the Giannis confession, won the game 121-127. That and the scuffle set the tone for these teams’ first group stage matchup for the NBA Cup in November.