Jerry Stackhouse hilariously whines about officiating with +18 FT advantage

Jerry Stackhouse blew a gasket with 7:40 left on the clock in the second half, berating the officials coming out of a media timeout to earn a technical foul. Vanderbilt was down 22 at that point with the game out of reach, but he just wanted to set the tone.

In fact, when asked about Kareem Watkins launching a 3-pointer with six seconds to go with Kentucky up 32, he said he didn’t have it in him to complain. His focus was elsewhere.

“I didn’t have the energy for it tonight. My energy was more at the officials,” Stackhouse said after the 109-77 loss. “I thought the game kind of got away from them again.”

Huh. Interesting. I mean, maybe? Generally speaking, a big call here or there can swing the momentum and force games to get away from you quickly. Who am I to judge officiating gripes when I’ve got them just about every game?

In this case, though? Look at the numbers staring right in front of your face and understand how hilarious the complaints are.

Kentucky took two free throws in the first half while being called for eight fouls. Zvonimir Ivisic earned three fouls in four minutes himself! On the flip side, Vanderbilt took eleven free throws while being called for just four fouls, no one with more than one individually.

Let’s fast forward to the second half. Maybe we saw a swing call here or there early that helped spark the blowout? That could justify a temper tantrum.

Until you realize the Commodores were called for a grand total of three fouls leading up to his technical. And his tech came on a shooting foul called on — wait for it — Reed Sheppard, resulting in a pair of free throws for his own team. Then from there, just two more for a total of five and ten second-half attempts at the line.

For the Wildcats? Eleven fouls called resulting in nineteen free-throw attempts for the home team in the final 20 minutes.

19 fouls to 10, 30 free throws to 12. I mean, the numbers weren’t even remotely close, let alone favoring Kentucky in any form or fashion.

“It was the same three officials that were here against Tennessee. It was the same thing, I felt like there was no consistency,” Stackhouse whined. “That’s all you want in a game is consistency. I didn’t feel they were consistent that night, nor were they consistent tonight.”

Officiating wasn’t the issue, Jerry. Your team just stinks out loud.

Do better.