Rutgers’ frustration with officiating in the loss to Ohio State comes down to the post-game. Will this power the Scarlet Knights?

The No.11 Rutgers suffered his first loss of the season on Wednesday, and some of his players are pointing fingers at the referee squad.

Here’s the case: Despite a double-digit lead for most of the contest, the Scarlet Knights fell 80-68 after being outscored 29-9 in the final 8 minutes and 44 seconds. The meaning of this timestamp? It was when starting center Myles Johnson fouled after just 15 minutes on the pitch.

With starting center Cliff Omoruyi with a knee injury, reserve center Mamadou Doucoure took over during the stretches that Johnson spent on the bench. In 20 minutes on the court, he collected four fouls.

In total, Rutgers committed 22 fouls and conceded 29 free throws to the Buckeyes, who scored 22 points on the free throw line. They shot 21 free throws in the second half alone, which is 17 of their 52 points in the second half.

For the big picture, here’s some important information: Ohio State committed 20 similar fouls and conceded 17 free throws. Johnson has struggled with fouling issues his entire career, entering the fight averaging 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes. The Buckeyes have a free throw rate of 44.1, a good 28th place in the country, and are scoring 25% of their points on the free throw line this season, meaning they have also made it to the foul line before Wednesday’s game.

Nonetheless, Rutgers fans were out of themselves on social networks, and the Scarlet Knights have finally reached their breaking point on the court. At 4:25 to go and the score tied at 61, the Rutgers bench was hit with a technical foul after protesting no foul on Ohio State during a layup attempt by Geo Baker.

A couple from Scarlet Knights expressed their contempt for refereeing the contest on Twitter after the game.

Johnson was the most vocal of a pair of deleted tweets since.

“There must be 3 big wins in the gambling world tonight because there is no way,” he tweeted a few minutes after the contest, concluding it with emoticons of a trash can and a zebra, specifying that he thought arbitration was a garbage can.

Junior forward Ron Harper Jr., who led the Scarlet Knights with 20 points, was more subtle, tweeting a simple “Lol” and retweeting a tweet criticizing the arbitration.

Head coach Steve Pikiell and main frontman Geo Baker played down their frustration with the referee during their post-match press conferences.

“I just have to do a better job with the officials,” Pikiell said. “They were great. They do a good job.”

“You get emotional in this game, and I think we’re all a little emotional,” Baker said. “I feel like we’ve dropped a lead which we shouldn’t be doing as a veteran team. I don’t think the referees really affected the game. We just have to do better as a team. We let go of our heads. It’s on us.

One thing the Scarlet Knights agree on: The way this contest ended will fuel them for the rematch against the Buckeyes at the Rutgers Athletic Center on Saturday, January 9, 2021 – 17 days from Wednesday.

“17 days at RAC without cheating -” Johnson tweeted then deleted.

Before that, Rutgers will have a few days off for the holidays. He will then host Purdue and Iowa at the RAC and travel to East Lansing to face the State of Michigan. Four days later, the Scarlet Knights host the state of Ohio.

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Brian Fonseca can be reached at [email protected].