Iowa's Fran McCaffery Ejected After Tirade, Wisconsin Awarded 6 Free Throws

Fran McCaffery's temper once again got the best of him, and it came at the worst possible time for Iowa. 

With his No. 22 Hawkeyes leading No. 4 Wisconsin, 41-39, with just under 12 minutes to go in Madison, the 54-year-old head coach—putting it mildly—lost his cool, went on a temper tantrum, slightly bumped one of the several officials he was yelling at, received two technicals and was ejected from the game. 

When it was all said and done, the Badgers were given six free throws—four of which went to 92.3-percent shooter Ben Brust. The senior made all of his attempts, and Nigel Hayes made one of his two, suddenly giving Wisconsin a three-point lead in the crucial Big Ten contest. 

Here's a look at the incident, courtesy of the Big Ten Network:

Preceding the TV timeout, which is when McCaffery went bananas, junior center Gabriel Olaseni missed a put-back off an offensive rebound. McCaffery thought his big man was fouled, but nothing was called. On the subsequent play, Olaseni was called for a foul of his own, setting off the ticking time bomb that was McCaffery. 

Assistant Sherman Dillard stepped in for the Hawkeyes as head coach. 

After the game, Benjamin Worgull of BadgerNation and Sean Merriman of BTN.com shared what McCaffery had to say about his actions: 

No matter how upset McCaffery was at the pair of calls, he simply can't lose his cool like that—especially with his team on the brink of what could have been a massive conference road win against the undefeated Badgers. 

ESPN's Dana O'Neil and Myron Medcalf summed it up:

Who knows if Iowa, which led for the majority of the contest, would have continued to hold off Wisconsin, but following McCaffery's ejection, the Badgers went on a 18-8 run to take an eight-point lead and eventually pulled out the victory, 75-71. 

As O'Neil pointed out, McCaffery has a known temper. Many will remember his best impression of Bobby Knight in a blowout loss against Michigan State two years ago:

If he didn't have it already, McCaffery is quickly garnering the reputation as one of the biggest hothead coaches in America.