Before we get into what actually happened in the game, let’s talk about the trip.
Oregon State forward Jarmal Reid tripped a referee.
No, seriously. He was mad about not getting a foul called when Utah’s Jakob Poeltl knocked him over, so he responded by tripping official Tommy Nunez. Look at this:
Have you ever seen anything like that?
Here’s the best part: After getting hit with a technical foul, Reid reacted by throwing his hands in the air. “I can’t BELIEVE you gave me a technical foul for blatantly and intentionally tripping you, Mr. Official!”
.@OregonStateMBB Jarmal Reid just got a 'flagrant 2' for blatantly tripping an official. It was a tie game... pic.twitter.com/BSWn9Zgxz5
— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐞 (@brian_schnee) January 18, 2016
Reid, rightfully so, was ejected for a flagrant 2. I’d be shocked if there wasn’t more punishment coming down.
There are a couple of points that need to be made here:
- This play came in a tie game with three minutes left. Oregon State had just blown a double-digit lead before that. This didn’t directly cost them the win -- the Utes only scored one point on the free throws they were given -- but Oregon State only scored one more point the rest of the game. Utah closed the game on a 21-5 run that included a couple controversial calls after the trip that went Utah’s way. Specifically, there was a rebound that Kyle Kuzma grabbed without establishing himself inbounds, a call that was missed by ... Nunez.
- To that point, Nunez was simply awful all game. Keep in mind that this tweet comes from Doug Gottlieb, whose brother is on the Oregon State coaching staff, but his point isn’t exactly wrong:
Consecutive plays, start of 2nd half. pic.twitter.com/euxIBxx1Zk
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) January 18, 2016
In no way does that give Reid the right to trip a ref, but Oregon State’s displeasure with the refereeing is certainly understandable.