Brad Brownell calls officiating in Arizona win 'fine'

Officiating is always a touchy subject for college hoops coaches at this time of year, but after his team’s Sweet 16 victory, Clemson coach Brad Brownell actually complimented the referees.

As is the case in most college hoops games, Brownell and Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd shared plenty of frustrations at officials throughout the game, behavior that’s only amplified in do-or-die NCAA Tournament games. But once the dust settled, Brownell admitted the refs were plenty fair when asked in the postgame.

“No. It was fantastic,” Brownell responded to a room full of laughs. “We obviously won the game. No, the officiating was fine.”

Coaches are always going to get caught up in some calls amidst the heat of the moment, but overall, Brownell thought the refs did a fine job in a game that’s always tough to call.

You can watch the tournament live on Prime Video, add on your favorite channels and watch at home or on your phone and laptop at work!

“I mean, it is what it is. These are hard games to call. There’s so much physicality and the players are so athletic and it’s just hard to manage it all. It really is.”

He didn’t see the officials giving an edge either way and believes the whistle was balanced.

“It had no bearing on anything tonight. Both teams got into the bonus and both teams got players in foul trouble. At the end of the day it’s about players making more plays than another team.”

Thursday evening, Clemson had those playmakers.

More on Clemson win vs. Arizona

It wasn’t only the biggest win in Brad Brownell’s career thus far, but one of the biggest in Clemson basketball history, without a doubt.

Clemson got a balanced scoring effort from three of their biggest stars when they needed it the most: Ian Schieffelin, PJ Hall, and Chase Hunter. The talented trio combined for 49 of the Tigers’ 77 points. A team is only as good as their superstars will take them in the NCAA Tournament, and Clemson’s showed up in a massive way against a high-level opponent.

Arizona shot miserably, only connecting on five of their 28 shots from beyond-the-arc (17.9%). They only shot 37% from the field too, connecting on 25 of their 67 shots. Caleb Love has been one of the nation’s streakiest players in recent years and he once again was ice cold in the biggest game of the year for the Wildcats. Love didn’t hit a single three, going 0-for-9 from beyond-the-arc. He also only hit five of his 18 shots from the field (27.7%).

Now, the Tigers get ready to face Alabama with a trip to Phoenix and the Final Four on the line after Clemson beat the Tide in Tuscaloosa back in December.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report