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The plastic bottle came flying from the stands right after a fourth quarter basket by Gonzaga in a tight match up with Santa Clara University.
Bronco's head coach Kerry Keating was visible upset.
"Hey, show some respect for both teams; cheer them on, don't throw anything onto the floor ever again," Keating told fans immediately after the incident.
Santa Clara was hit with one technical foul and then a second when a piece of foil was thrown just two minutes later. TheZ scored on all four free throws and went on to win the game 81 to 73.
"I feel like we had a chance of winning the game, but when that happened turned everything around all the players put their heads down and felt the same way, I think," Broncos guard Perry Petty said.
The flying trash came from the official Broncos booster section known as the Ruff Riders. There has already been a campus-wide backlash against the suspected culprits.
"It's like making life really hard and no one knows exactly who did it; it's just a bunch of people saying like, 'oh, they did it, they did it,' but no one really knows," SCU cheerleader Brittany Burkett said.
The university says it will discipline anyone found responsible.
Both the athletic director and university president issued statements condemning the unsportsmanlike conduct, but declined ABC7's request for interviews.
President Michael Engh told students in an e-mail he was even more troubled by two responses to the trash throwing event.
"The first is a targeted assault on a student believed to be involved in the incident and the second is a Facebook group formed to make life miserable for the student(s) involved," the e-mail said.
It appears the Facebook page has been taken down. Many at the game are furious for bad behavior on several fronts.
"Everyone's really upset about it; we're the ones most upset about it, we're embarrassed," junior Sarah Bradley said.
The Broncos finished their season with no more problems and are going to the West Coast Conference tournament this weekend in Las Vegas.
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