NCAA Tournament refs ripped for technical foul call on Illinois' RJ Melendez
The NCAA Tournament refs are at it again.
In the second half of the Illinois-Houston, RJ Melendez threw down a highlight dunk, cutting the Cougar lead to 46-42 with 8:38 to go. Unfortunately, it quickly went back to 47-42 because Melendez was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
As Reggie Miller of the CBS broadcast pointed out, Melendez was not showboating, but hanging on the rim briefly for his own safety because of his momentum.
As expected, the refs were shredded on Twitter for the call. Here’s a sample of the reaction:
Four point game. Season on the line.
And they call this a tech??
ALL TIME BAD CALL.
Embarrassing. Just embarrassing pic.twitter.com/J9bhSI38Xs
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) March 20, 2022
THEY CALLED A TECHNICAL FOUL ON ILLINOIS FOR THIS???#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Xi9FV2YdC3
— Mr Matthew CFB 🇺🇦 (@MrMatthewCFB) March 20, 2022
What an ABOMINATION!
As BAD of a call as I’ve EVER seen.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 20, 2022
The rest of the college basketball world getting a taste of the god awful officiating on a nightly basis Big Ten fans are used to. That technical on Melendez was an absolute joke. We gonna just ban dunks mid tournament now?
— Scott Greene (@TerrapinNation) March 20, 2022
garbage @NCAA https://t.co/0mINSeupZu
— The Champaign Room (@Champaign_Room) March 20, 2022
More amateur hour refereeing on the biggest stage.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) March 20, 2022
Ref calls a T on Melendez for hanging on the rim after a dunk. It happened right in front of me. He pretty clearly swung forward as not to hurt himself.
That call belongs in the trash.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) March 20, 2022
