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Mike Woodson delivers NSFW tirade on officiating after Indiana’s loss to Oregon
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Mike Woodson is trying to lead Indiana into the NCAA Tournament with the late-season push during the head coach’s final season in the program. The Hoosiers entered Tuesday on a 3-game winning streak but faced a hot Oregon squad in Eugene.
After keeping things close at the half and throughout the 2nd half, Oregon eventually closed things out across the final 2 minutes of the game with a 10-3 run. The defeat puts a dent in Indiana’s March Madness hopes, and Woodson was particularly disgruntled with the officiating after the game.
The final split led to the Ducks shooting 21 free throws at home while the Hoosiers shot just 7. That comes out to a -14 discrepancy for Indiana, something Woodson believes should not have happened.
He even dropped some colorful language to describe his feelings about the officials:
“We had our chances guys, but listen: in a physical game like this, it can’t be 21-7 (in free throws),” argued Woodson. “You’ve got to be kidding me. 21-7 on f—– free throws is bullsh–. It just can’t be, not in a physical game. They’re a physical team. And it can’t be that lopsided. It’s impossible.”
For what it’s worth, 6 of Oregon’s free-throw attempts came with less than a minute to play as Indiana tried to extend the game, so the true nature of the discrepancy during normal action was more like 15-7. To Woodson’s argument, that is still 2-to-1 in favor of Oregon, so he might have a case.
A bigger problem for the Hoosiers was also the fact that they only made 3 of their free-throw attempts, so they didn’t even maximize the opportunities they had. Meanwhile, the Ducks shot 19-for-21 (90.5%) in an area that was the difference in the game.
As for the message from the officials, Woodson said “it’s what it is.”
“I can’t go back and get it,” said Woodson. “But in a physical game like that when both teams are battling their asses off, you can’t punish one team and put one team on the line for 21 times and the other team only get there 7 times. That’s awful.”
Here are the clips of Woodson’s comments with the reminder they are NSFW:
In Joe Lunardi’s Tuesday morning bracketology update for ESPN, the Hoosiers were still in the “Last Four Byes” section, so it’s unlikely the loss to Oregon drops Indiana entirely out of the field. However, the Hoosiers are still viewed as a bubble team, and they want to end the regular season with a win over Ohio State to avoid a precarious position entering the Big Ten Tournament.
When the final conference tournament bracket comes out, be sure to use the top betting apps to track the odds and get in on the action.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
