Aubrey Coleman, Chase Budinger Clash in Arizona's Win Over Houston

Apparently Chase Budinger didn't appreciate getting his face intentionally stepped on. The Arizona forward took a charge near half-court against Houston's Aubrey Coleman in the second half of their game Saturday. As Coleman walked over Budinger, he appeared to stomp on Budinger's face purposely. You could make the case it was an accident, too, but the fact remains that he stepped on a dude's face.

Budinger, as most every person in the country would, reacted rather swiftly. Fortunately the officials and other players intervened quite quickly, before any punches were thrown. Check the video.

Arizona ended up storming back to win the basketball game with a furious comeback in the waning minutes to force overtime. The game itself, however, takes a bit of a backseat to this incident.

Budinger believes the move was done with malice.

"He stepped on my face, and you can see some footprints on my jersey," Budinger said, adding he thought it was deliberate. "Without a doubt. . . . Anytime you get kicked in the face, I'd hope you'd retaliate."

Coleman's coach, Tom Penders, disagrees.

"I know Aubrey, and I have never seen him lose his temper or composure or anything," said Penders, who called Coleman the Cougars' best player. "I'm just sorry the official interpreted it that way. The way I saw it, Aubrey got tangled, and his momentum carried him forward, and I think it was a mistake."

Either way, the clash seemed to provide the necessary fire and motivation the Wildcats needed, as they majorly outscored Houston the rest of the way. Of course, the fact that Houston lost their best player, Coleman, due to an ejection, could have had a little something to do with it.

UPDATE: Coleman has been suspended for one game by Conference USA. He also apologized to Budinger and claimed the incident was purely accidental. Click here for full details.