Maryland's Kevin Willard criticizes refs for Julian Reese's first-half foul trouble vs. Alabama

Maryland fell 73-51 to Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and head coach Kevin Willard was not a fan of the first half. Specifically, Willard criticized the refs for Julian Reese’s foul trouble.

In Saturday’s game, Reese played just 21 minutes total after three fouls in the first half. Without Reese’s presence, Alabama’s Charles Bediako had 28 quality minutes and couldn’t be contained down low .

And on the flip side, Bediako did not have to worry about Reese.

“The second foul call was mysterious and even the third one,” Willard said. “I played him with two fouls all year. You know, you can’t call that second foul. Not in an NCAA Tournament game. That’s just my feeling on it. I thought it was a horrible call and it changed the outcome of the game. I can elaborate a lot on but I will probably get in a lot of trouble, I can go in that much trouble. Or do you want me going in this much trouble? The second call was a terrible foul call.”

Kevin Willard on Julian Reese foul trouble

Willard alluded to the physicality of the game and questioned why the refs inserted themselves into the game, specifically when Reese got involved.

“You can’t take our best player out of the game when the game was as physical as it was,” Willard said. “It was a horrible call. It changed our whole game plan. We were going to pound it inside, pound it inside. That’s what we have been doing for the last two months of the season. We played through Julian. We played at the high post through Julian, we played down low through Julian. He draws fouls. He draws double teams. I mean, he plays — I don’t know where minutes are on this stat sheet. This might be worse than the foul call. 

“He plays 21 minutes and he’s minus 4. So that just tells you how valuable he was to this game. So, you know, I will continue to play him with two fouls because I trust him. But even the third foul was like, you know, I was thinking, you got to be looking at him and put him on the bench. That’s how I feel.”

Reese finished with 14 points and two rebounds in the game while Bediako finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and one assist.

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Alabama takes on San Diego State in the Sweet 16 Friday.