Fran McCaffery on stare down with official: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’

Late in the second half of Iowa’s game against Michigan State on Saturday, Fran McCaffery received a technical foul and later went viral for his stare-down with official Kelly Pfeifer during a timeout. It was an interesting moment, to say the least, as the Hawkeyes came back to beat the Spartans in overtime afterward.

So, did McCaffery get his point across?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he quipped in the postgame press conference. “No idea what you’re talking about. You must’ve been at a different game.”

It’s worth noting Pfeifer wasn’t the official who gave McCaffery a technical just a few minutes earlier. That’s what made the exchange even funnier.

“I wasn’t even mad at him,” McCaffery said. “I was mad at the other guy.”

In all seriousness, McCaffery said it wasn’t his “intention” to get a technical foul to light a spark for his team with the moment. It certainly worked out that way, though. Iowa outscored Michigan State 20-10 after his 15-second stare-down with Pfeifer to force overtime and, eventually, come all the way back to win the game 112-106 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Fran McCaffery stares down referee late in Iowa vs. Michigan State

McCaffery said something to an official to receive a technical earlier. So, when he called timeout shortly thereafter, he walked up to the referee and did the next best thing.

He didn’t say anything at all. He just stared.

McCaffery walked up to referee Kelly Pfeifer and stared him down for about 20 seconds before finally walking back to the huddle. The moment quickly went viral as Iowa and Michigan State squared off in an offensive display.

Kris Murray, Sandfort and Tony Perkins all led Iowa in scoring. Murray had a game-high 26 points while Sandfort and Perkins each had 22 as the Hawkeyes shot 50.7% from the field and made a season-high 17 three-pointers. In fact, Iowa made five threes in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and eventually get a huge Big Ten victory. With 218 combined points, it also marked the highest-scoring game in the Big Ten this season, easily surpassing the previous mark of 180.

Michigan State also had an impressive day on offense, but it wasn’t enough to get the win. The Spartans shot 59.3% from the floor and 73.3% from three-point territory, led by 31 points from Tyson Walker.