Illini Coach Brad Underwood Addresses Run-In With Ref in Purdue Game

Underwood was testy when responding to a post-game question about his exchange with official Randy Richardson

Mar 2, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood yells to his team from the bench during their game against the Michigan Wolverines in the first half at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Illinois coach Brad Underwood had every reason to feel total contentment after his team's 88-80 win over No. 18 Purdue on Friday in Champaign. But in the post-game press conference, his mood turned when he was asked about an official's call and the aftermath of the play.

With 13:51 on the clock in the second half, the Illini were chipping away at the Boilermakers' lead when Purdue sharpshooter Fletcher Loyer rose up for a three-point attempt. Scurrying to recover on defense, Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis leapt to make an excellent, clean block, avoiding all contact with Loyer's body in the process.

Jakucionis was called for a shooting foul, the referee apparently believing him to have made contact with Loyer's hand on the shot. The usually cool-headed Jakucionis threw his hands up in protest, the State Farm Center wailed, and even FOX analysts Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery laid into the officials.

"That is a game-changing call there that didn't have to be made at all," Benetti said on air.

So imagine how Underwood must have felt. Uh ... you didn't have to. Underwood didn't go full Bob Knight, but it would have been as clear to a fan in the last row of the State Farm Center as it was to a TV viewer what the coach's opinion of the call was. Underwood jawed with official Randy Richardson and at one point mixed it up a bit with assistant coach Geoff Alexander, who may have been trying to prevent the confrontation from going any further.

The call stood, Loyer hit three free throws, and had Underwood been hit with a technical, another free-throw attempt and possession would have gone to the Boilers. A nine-point lead and the ball for Purdue at that point? It could've been ball game.

Which is why, despite everything coming up Illinois at the end, Underwood was questioned about it after the game – because it could have gone so very differently. When told that it seemed Richardson had instructed Underwood to control his players, the coach interjected:

"Don't assume that. That is absolutely not the truth. OK, that is absolutely ... don't start doing that. That's a bunch of crap. You absolutely did not [hear Richardson say that]. He was mad at me, OK? That was me for barking at him, because he said he missed [the call]. So make no more of that. That's enough. I'm done with that. There's nothing more to that."

And yet the back-and-forth with Richardson seemed to escalate to a level that might have resulted in a technical. Reasonable minds can disagree about this, of course, but Underwood said it was never an issue.

"I had a mic on, and you can go pull the mic – don't try to make something that wasn't there," Underwood said. "There was not one thing there. I didn't say one thing. I didn't swear at all. He was having a conversation with me, I listened, I walked away."

It's not as if Underwood has never drawn a technical foul at a critical in-game moment. Only weeks ago, in a two-point loss at Michigan State, he was hit with a tech inside the game's last four minutes with the Spartans leading by four.

Against Purdue, though, cooler heads prevailed and Underwood dialed it back to avoid a bad-to-worse situation.

"The one thing I'm always going to do," he said, "is keep my wits in a game and not going to get a tech."

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Purdue Coach Matt Painter Sets the Bar for Illinois in March

CBS' Jon Rothstein Reports Update on Availability of Morez Johnson Jr.

Illinois Basketball's Will Riley Gives Us Another Reason to Love Bill Raftery