Brad Underwood reveals discussions with Big Ten office following ejection

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood lost his cool in Thursday night’s home contest against Ohio State, as the Illini head coach picked up two technical fouls, resulting in his ejection. Underwood did not leave the court easily, either, as he proceeded to chew out the referees on his way out.

No. 15 Illinois ended up falling to No. 22 Ohio State by a narrow, 86-83 margin following Underwood’s ejection, and the Illini head coach said he’s since connected with the Big Ten Conference on his antics. According to Underwood, though, he spoke to the Big Ten specifically about the officiating in the game, which he vehemently disagreed with, leading to his on-court blow up — but Underwood said he’d leave the specifics of the conversation between him and the league office.

#Illini Underwood said he talked to the Big Ten office about the officiating on Thursday night. Said he'd leave the conversation between him & the league office.

— Derek Piper (@DPiper247) February 26, 2022

WATCH: Brad Underwood receives second technical foul, ejected against Ohio State

Trailing by a dozen in the second half to Ohio State, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood was called for his first technical foul for arguing with the officiating crew. It doesn’t take a lip reader to know the four letter words that came out of the Fighting Illini coaches mouth.

The second, which forced Underwood’s ejection was on an offense foul that he certainly didn’t agree with. He fired up the crowd on his way out after his assistant coaches had to hold him back.

pic.twitter.com/lZACE8zot1

— Derrick Shooman (@curlmarket1) February 25, 2022

Brad Underwood pumped up the #Illini crowd into an angry frenzy after he was ejected. Took a lot of effort from Geoff Alexander and the staff to get him to leave the floor. pic.twitter.com/zh3FqHw9Xq

— Gavin Good (@itsallG_O_O_D) February 25, 2022

The tension was building up for several minutes following the first technical. It was almost inevitable he was going to explode on the officials and receive his second, much to the detriment of his team and players.

Illinois was paced by guard Alfonso Plummer on Thursday, who did everything in his power to try and keep the Illini in the game. Plummer poured in 26 points, along with three rebounds and two assists, but the Illini had no shortage of offense in the losing effort – Illinois had four players finish in double-digit scoring in addition to Plummer, with Coleman Hawkins finishing with 10 points, four boards and two assists, Jacob Grandison finishing with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds, Kofi Cockburn finishing with 12 points and three boards, and Trent Frazier going for 12 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Ohio State, however, got the best of Illinois, thanks in large part to two huge scoring performances from guard Malaki Branham, who had 31 points, two rebounds and one assist, and EJ Liddell, who had 21 points and six rebounds.

With the loss, Illinois fell to 19-8 on the season. The Fighting Illini will face Michigan on Sunday afternoon.