The handshake line is supposed be a moment of sportsmanship, where both teams congratulate each other. That didn't exactly happen Thursday afternoon following Xavier's 88-60 win over St. John's in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

While some players were shaking hands, St. John's player Bashir Ahmed came in and caused a disruption. He appeared to be looking for a fight, and several Xavier players engaged with him. After a while, both teams became involved in the action.

MORE: 2018 Big East Tournament schedule

According to The Athletic's Dana O'Neil, members of St. John's attemeted to escalate the issue further.

Big East Conference officials reviewed security tape, trying to determine if something happened “in the back of the house’’ following the conference tournament game between Xavier and St. John’s on Thursday.



Stu Jackson, the league’s senior associate commissioner, confirmed to The Fieldhouse that conference officials were trying to determine exactly what happened. A source told The Fieldhouse that St. John’s players attempted to get into the Xavier locker room.



"We know something happened,’’ Jackson said. “But at this time, we aren’t really sure exactly what it is."

The aggression reportedly stemmed from earlier in the game as members of both teams engaged in trash talk. In a blowout game, emotions must have heightened as the game grew near its conclusion.

Tyrique Jones and Bashir Ahmed are barking at each other heading into the timeout (after Jones was called for a foul). Luke Murray pulls Jones away from Ahmed and into the team huddle. — Shannon Russell (@slrussell) March 8, 2018

When asked about what happened during the handshake line, Xaiver coach Chris Mack expressed his displeasure in an interview with FS1 saying, "Their kids kept talking to our guys. We pushed our guys away. It's not right."

Mack didn't want to get too much into the theatrics of the moment when he was asked by members of the media a little while later.

"I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus," Mack said. "Couple of guys didn’t want to shake hands. But it was quickly squelched. Let’s concentrate and worry about the game."

St. John's coach Chris Mullin kept his response brief only saying, "I didn’t see anything."

The Big East released a statement late Thursday saying, "We have reviewed the actions following the St. John's-Xavier game and do not plan to taking disciplinary action."

St. John's has been eliminated from the Big East tourney following this loss. Xavier advanced and plays Providence on Friday.