Iowa HC Fran McCaffery Calls Ref 'Cheating Motherf--ker' After Loss vs. OSU

Paul KasabianSenior ContributorFebruary 27, 2019

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery reacts to a call against his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Indiana, Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Iowa men's basketball head coach Fran McCaffery reportedly used profane language toward an official after his team's 90-70 loss at Ohio State on Tuesday.

Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade reported the exchange (warning: tweet contains profanity):

Kyle Rowland @KyleRowland
Uh, wow. Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey was just screaming at an official walking down a hallway of Value City Arena. "You cheating motherfucker! You're a fucking disgrace!"

The Hawkeyes trailed by only three points early in the second half before OSU pulled away en route to its 20-point victory.

After the game, McCaffery was asked about the reported interaction with an official but declined comment, per Rowland:

Kyle Rowland @KyleRowland
Fran McCaffery was just asked about the post-game incident with the officials. His response: "Can't talk about that."

McCaffery hasn't been immune to past outbursts. He was ejected after getting two technicals against Maryland last season for coming onto the court and arguing with refs. Chad Leistikow of Hawk Central highlighted some other incidents.

"Over the years, McCaffery has publicly screamed at his players, nose to nose," Leistikow noted. "He's slammed a chair at Michigan State. He's been suspended for bumping an official at Wisconsin."

McCaffery also got angry with a scoreboard operator during a game against Michigan, as Leistikow noted. Furthermore, Iowa did not shake hands with North Dakota players or coaches after a December 2016 win, per C.L. Brown, then writing for ESPN.

Dan Wolken of USA Today called for Iowa to take action against the coach:

Dan Wolken @DanWolken
Fran isn’t a good enough coach to get away with the pile of bad stuff he’s done. It’s multiple episodes a year. It’s embarrassing. Iowa needs to do something about it.

Dan Wolken @DanWolken
Going to need a compelling argument for why a coach calling a ref a “cheating mother******” isn’t grounds for a suspension — maybe for the rest of the season, given his history.

The counterargument is that McCaffery isn't the only coach prone to outbursts, technical fouls and cursing at officials. What McCaffery reportedly did Tuesday isn't even the worst incident in the Big Ten this year.

That doesn't make what has occurred right, though.

Whichever end one falls on regarding McCaffery, No. 22 Iowa dropped to 21-7 overall and 10-7 in Big Ten play. Ohio State improved to 18-10 and 8-9 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes host Rutgers on Saturday.

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