Tennessee Basketball: Rick Barnes 'not real happy' with officiating in loss at Arizona

A year ago at Thompson-Boling Arena, it was Arizona getting called for 28 fouls to Tennessee’s 16. It was the Vols making the same amount of free throws (18) as the Wildcats attempted (18).

It was Arizona having three players foul out and Tennessee sixth-year senior forward John Fulkerson draw 13 fouls on his own, while recording a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

The numbers evened out Saturday night when No. 6 Tennessee went to a sold-out McKale Memorial Center in Tucson to face No. 9 Arizona in the return game in the home-and-home series.

In the 75-70 Arizona win, the home team was called for 15 fouls and went 24-for-27 at the foul line. Tennessee, meanwhile, got called for 24 fouls and finished 8-for-10 at the free-throw line, all in the second half.

“I have a lot of respect for these three officials,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after the loss, referencing referees Verne Harris, John Higgins and Tony Padilla. “I’ve known them for a long time but (I’m) not real happy because I didn’t see it that way. 

“And I don’t want to take anything away from Arizona.” 

Five Vols called for at least three fouls in Arizona loss

Sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler and freshman power forward Tobe Awaka both finished the game with four fouls. Sophomore forward Jonas Aidoo, senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua and senior forward Uros Plavsic all had three, including a technical Plavsic picked up at the 17:18 mark of the first half.

“It was pretty frustrating,” Zeigler said of the foul calls, “but we knew we’ve got to stay together no matter what. We can’t control the foul count. We just have to stay together.”

Tennessee (9-2) was called for three offensive fouls in the first 14 minutes. There was a fourth offensive foul at the 18:58 mark of the second half, the third foul of Plavsic, and freshman wing Julian Phillips was called for a technical for flopping just 17 seconds later.

Zeigler scored a career-high 21 points and had five rebounds. Nkamhoua scored 16 points to go with five assists and four rebounds. 

Arizona (10-1) got a combined 68 points and 29 rebounds from Azoula Tubelis (19), Oumar Ballo (18), Pelle Larsson (17) and Courtney Ramey (13). Junior guard Kerr Kriisa had eight points and five assists in 32 minutes.

Kriisa was given a technical on the bench in the second half after celebrating the Ramey 3-pointer to put Arizona up 10. 

Kriisa, Benedict Mathurin and Christian Koloko all fouled out a year ago in Knoxville after combining for 33 points.

Eight Tennessee players were called for at least two fouls Saturday night. The Vols shot just 10 free throws despite entering the game averaging 25.3.

“We were going inside as much as they were,” Barnes said, “and I don’t know. I don’t know what to say other than I thought a couple plays at the end — it’s going to be tough for us to look at. 

“I know when we get that on tape it’s going to be tough to look at them with our players.” 

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. Austin Peay, Wednesday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

One of those plays was a layup Santiago Vescovi had blocked with 41 seconds left, when Tennessee trailed by four.

“I know those (officials) are trying to work hard,” Barnes said, “but that one play at the end where Santi went down the court and all three guys said they didn’t see (a foul). That’s tough to take at that point in time. 

“Like I said, I’ve got great respect for those guys. I’ve been around them, but certainly there was a wide difference in free throws tonight.”