BOULDER, Colo. -- UA coach Sean Miller said today that Solomon Hill was retaliating to a hit from Utah's Cedric Martin when he was whistled for a second-level flagrant foul Thursday, and will face no disciplinary action.
"It's what you've seen, I think, a thousand times in college basketball -- Solomon responded to what I would call an equally flagrant foul by Utah," Miller told the Star today at UA's team hotel. "It was on the same play. A lot of times (when) it happens, the second guy gets caught.
"What Solomon did, we talked to him about it. I think he'll learn from it but I don't think his intent was to hurt the Utah player and by the same token I would say ... it was even, 1-1."
Miller had declined to comment in detail on the incident after Thursday's game, saying he had not seen it on replay yet, but discussed it today before the Wildcats practiced at the Coors Events Center.
Television replays showed Hill hitting Martin in the back of his head with his elbow. Martin fell to the floor and was taken to the training room, though he did return to the game. Martin was practicing Friday at Utah and is expected to play Saturday against ASU.
The replays broadcast Thursday on Fox Sports Arizona did not show any hit by Martin, though Miller said Martin hit Hill "really hard and Solomon responded almost seconds later."
Hill was also shown clenching a fist when joining a UA-Oregon State scuffle at McKale Center on Jan. 12, though was not found to have thrown a punch and did not receive a technical. UA's Kyle Fogg and OSU's Jared Cunningham received technicals from that incident, while UA's Kyryl Natyazhko and OSU's Joe Burton were ejected for leaving their respective team benches.
"Solomon's a great kid," Miller said. "I go on the three years that I've known him. I think we've had really one-and-a-half incidents in the heat of the game and you've got to protect yourself, too. That's part of what the monitor has to understand, in my opinion."
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