The big boy of college basketball was clearly baffled by the lack of vigilance. He could just stand stunned before shaking his head in disappointment. But Zach Edey wasn’t alone. His fans were equally left disappointed after getting no calls from the refs. What happened during the recent matchup between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Tennessee Volunteers made it clear that a referee can turn an evening of jubilation into a night of disappointment for both fans and players. And one way of doing it is calling fouls on relatively small things, and another is not calling fouls at all. 

Over the years, there’ve been many incidents, where refs made rather dubious decisions that changed the course of games. Even in a league as big as the NBA, officials have ejected players like Stephen Curry for just throwing their mouthpiece. Many players have been forced to leave the court for actions as minor as passing the ball with minimal force to the referees. At times, these court miscalls set their own records. Let us take a look at one such match.

Most fouls in an NCAA basketball match 

The year was 2013 when two of the most dominant teams in the league had to play against each other. The Seton Hall Pirates and Niagara Purple Eagles gave fans an eyeful as they played a highly aggressive match against each other. Both teams refused to back down, but the game ended in favor of the Pirates with a final score of 83-72. 

What stood out the most, however, were the shocking 73 fouls called in the match, which led to a total of 102 free throws for both teams. The game tone was set early, as the refs called fouls on minimal issues. As per Bleacher Report, the first half of this game recorded 40 fouls which disrupted the flow. Dousing any hopes of a better second half, the refs called 33 more fouls even after both the teams backed down on the defense. 

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The sounds of the whistle every second, further, disturbed the momentum of the game, which resulted in stretching the game well beyond the two-hour mark. This match serves as a testament to the impact referees can have on the game’s rhythm. 

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The disruptive dance of referee calls

While each dribble, pass, and shot can alter the course of a game, a referee also plays a crucial role. In a recent game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Tennessee Volunteers, Zach Edey was left disappointed after getting no calls from the refs. The Volunteers committed back-to-back fouls on the Boilermaker’s center, yet got no foul calls. 

Even one of the most successful basketball leagues in the world sometimes suffers from this. The NBA over time has faced its fair share of bad refereeing, with the likes of Kyrie Irving, Curry, and many more in its clutches. 

For most part, however, fans understand that the refs are human. They, at the end of the day, can make mistakes sometimes, but that indeed comes with its limits. A bad day of refereeing can actually change the fortunes of a game. 

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