Fran McCaffery explains decision to sit Kris Murray, Filip Rebraca in foul trouble

Iowa took care of business against Maryland on Saturday, but it took a little finesse with the handling of his stars by Fran McCaffery.

When Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca found themselves in foul trouble at the beginning of the second half, McCaffery tried to protect them from themselves. However, the Iowa leader didn’t want to let the Terrapins back into the game, and let the dogs loose later in the game.

Speaking with the media afterwards, the Hawkeyes coach explained his decision-making.

“There might have been have we not extended the lead. Those guys were out there fighting and extended the lead, so there was no need to do it,” explained McCaffery. “If they’re hammering the ball inside. I would’ve likely gone zone in that situation, if they were hurting us inside.

“We started the second half and it was a disaster. They hit a couple threes. So I told the guys, that’s on me. I was trying to protect those two guys for the first five minutes or so of the second half. I didn’t want them to feel hampered. Think about the last three or four minutes, when we really went to Kris. Needed him then. He just kept scoring. Never felt threatened, because we just would isolate him and he would go score.”

All in all, it worked out in the end for Iowa, as they captured an 81-67 victory over Maryland. Now at 12-6 on the season, the Hawkeyes look forward to a date with Northwestern their next time out.

Fran McCaffery addresses officiating issues in Big Ten

Meanwhile, several coaches around the Big Ten conference this season have expressed malcontent with the officiating this season.

Although his contemporaries might not like the job referees have been doing this season, Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery isn’t critical of their performance. In a recent press conference, McCaffrey addressed the officiating issues this season or lack thereof.

“Well, those conversations are ongoing, so you’re going to have conversation with our supervisor of officials. That’s his responsibility. Terry (Wymer) does a terrific job of that,” said McCaffrey.

“That’s all day, every day across the board, and that’s what his responsibility is, and he’s really trying to get his arms around the job. This is his first year, and he’s one of the best that ever did it when he was blowing the whistle. But there’s a lot at stake, and there’s a lot going on. When you’re in a league with so many good players, and so many of these games are coming down to the wire, there has to be more discussion. There’s blowouts; nobody ever talks about the officiating. But they’re not. So somebody is upset about something, and he’s the one who hears about it.”

On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this article.