Before their two most recent ranked wins, the Kentucky men’s basketball team suffered a loss to unranked Georgia that many considered to be an anomaly. At least, that’s how it appeared at first.
In what ended up being a 13-point loss, 69-82, The Wildcats’ and Bulldogs’ shooting numbers were nearly identical, with two and three-pointers going either way on the stat sheet. The only clear difference between the two was free throws.
A discrepancy in that category is perfectly normal, though in this case, the discrepancy isn’t normal at all.
Kentucky made 15 at the strike on 19 tries. That may seem like a healthy number of attempts, until you take into account Georgia’s 29 makes on 38 attempts. Not only did they double UK’s chances at the line, but they ended up with 14 more points in the category despite Kentucky shooting a better percentage.
Since they only won the game by 12… you can see the issue that had a lot of the big blue nation up in arms.
While complaining about officiating isn’t an uncommon practice among passionate fans, this situation specifically clearly called for a closer look for a multitude of reasons.
The most curious of which, aside from the aforementioned chasmic free throw difference, is the past of one of the officials who called the game: Olandis Poole.
Poole was a longtime NBA referee, until according to multiple sources, he was dismissed from the league due to consistent connections to betting lines and worrying officiating trends.
Now he’s working at the college level, and his past has made its presence known. As is expected when a ranked team plays an unranked team, Kentucky was favored across the betting board, meaning money placed on a Georgia win would guarantee growth.
And it isn’t just the fans who’ve noticed this pattern. Just two days after the game, Kentucky’s coaching staff had made contact with the Southeastern Conference in order to “learn about the whistle,” according to head coach Mark Pope.
“We’re not interested in what the rules are,” he said. “We’re interested in the rules that are being called.” It seems clear to even him, someone who has been quoted on multiple occasions denying a referee’s impact on a game, that something was wrong in this specific case.
Whether or not anything will come of it all is yet to be seen, but not only is this widespread reaction to the officiating a testament to the powerful collective voice that a fanbase can have, but also the unfortunate possibility that those who are supposed to keep a game under control are completely capable of doing the opposite.
Photo courtesy of Kevin C Cox.
