Bob Huggins Not Happy with Officiating in Loss: ‘I Gotta Be Careful What I Say But I’ll Just Leave It at That’
Bob Huggins and the West Virginia Mountaineers fell to the Maryland Terrapins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, 67-65.
In a game that was back-and-forth, emotions ran high and fouls aplenty were called. In just 11 minutes on the floor, West Virginia big man Jimmy Bell Jr. fouled out without a single point and just four rebounds and one assist to his name.
West Virginia was called for a total of 24 personal fouls, while Maryland had 19 of its own in a whistle-happy game from the officials. Bob Huggins, of course, wasn’t too happy about that.
When asked about his bigs being in foul trouble throughout the game, Huggins simply answered, “I’ve gotta be careful what I say but I’ll just leave it at that.”
West Virginia forwards Tre Mitchell and James Okonkwo both had four fouls apiece, and Patrick Suemnick had two himself, on top of Jimmy Bell fouling out. Meanwhile, no Maryland big man eclipsed three personal fouls. With Terps forward Julian Reese being on the floor for 37 minutes, and only garnering three fouls, it had to be frustrating for Huggins to watch his guys pick up whistle after whistle throughout the game.
Unfortunately, that’s just how it goes sometimes in March.
