Witness blows whistle on ‘Cats’ sweet tooth

Perhaps it was a sugar rush that spurred Arizona to a come-from-behind men’s basketball victory Saturday over Kansas University.

Three Arizona players were seen by a hotel guest early Saturday morning allegedly removing about 70 pieces of candy from a vending machine, according to the general manager of SpringHill Suites by Marriott, 1 Riverfront Plaza.

Lawrence Police were called after the guest reported the incident to hotel management. No arrests were made because an Arizona assistant coach returned to the hotel after the game — a 91-74 UA victory Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse — and paid for the candy.

“It wasn’t a huge amount, it was just the principle of it — that it happened,” SpringHill general manager Stephanie Bowler said.

The vending machine was opened without being damaged, Bowler said. She said the candy raid occurred sometime between midnight Friday and 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

Arizona officials were tight-lipped about the incident.

“It’s internal, and we always look at things,” sports information director Tom Duddleston Jr. said. He declined further comment.

About 10 a.m. — after UA had left for the fieldhouse — a hotel guest, whom Bowler would identify only as a man, told hotel management what he had seen, Bowler said.

Police were called and officers later went to the fieldhouse to contact Arizona team representatives, Police Lt. David Cobb said.

Because the candy was paid for by the assistant coach and the hotel wasn’t going to press charges, police didn’t file a written report.

Cobb said the two patrol officers who handled the matter were off Monday, but would be required to write a report when they returned to duty today.

Bowler said she was satisfied with Arizona’s response to the incident.

“The coach was real upset about it,” Bowler said. “He took care of it.”

Visiting college basketball teams often stay at SpringHill and rarely cause any problems, Bowler said.