There probably has never been a championship game across all sports where people weren’t complaining about the officiating at the end, but this year’s NCAA title game was a whole different story.
North Carolina beat Gonzaga 71-65 in Monday’s championship, but it was the referees who inadvertently stole the show. The game featured 44 foul calls and 52 free throws between both teams, with a whopping 27 calls coming in the second half alone. There even was a stretch where the refs called seven fouls in 92 seconds.
Needless to say, viewers weren’t happy, and that included LeBron James.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star said what plenty of people were thinking, as North Carolina coach Roy Williams even admitted that both teams didn’t play particularly well. And the officials only made things worse.
At the end of the day, though, it’s hard to say definitively that the referees had a huge effect on the outcome of the game. The Zags could have a bone to pick, as Zach Collins fouled out with five minutes left, but the team also went 8-for-29 in the second half.
Either way, college basketball fans likely are going to forget about this game pretty quickly.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
