Brad Underwood 'Very Frustrated' With Big Ten Officiating After Wisconsin Loss

One of the many story lines to dominate the aftermath of Illinois’ overtime loss at Michigan State was the officiating. The Illini appeared to be on the wrong side of the whistle at an alarmingly high rate – an amount noticeable to the most objective observer. Then again, that tends to be the case for any opponent in East Lansing – and, often, many road teams in the Big Ten.

On Tuesday night in Champaign, though, it appeared Illinois should, theoretically, be in line for the flip side of that treatment against Wisconsin. Right? Wrong – at least in the eyes of Illinois coach Brad Underwood. Although the Illini were called for just 12 fouls, compared to the Badgers’ 17, Underwood was not happy with the officiating. (Worth noting: Illinois fouls at the second-lowest rate of any team in college basketball.)

Illinois' Brad Underwood sounds off on officiating after loss to Wisconsin

“We sent 12 [clips] in the other day from Michigan State,” Underwood said. “We’ll send the missed out-of-bounds play in the first play of the overtime. It’s egregious. We’ll definitely send in the 10-second call. He’s five feet from getting across halfcourt. It’s a 10-second call. And we’ve got guys who miss that.

“I don’t know what to do with it. I’m done talking to people. I don’t get calls. I’m done. I’m frustrated as heck. I’m very frustrated. It changes so much from game to game. We had a guy tonight [that] we haven’t had in two years. Two years. Do a league game. In two years.” With that, Underwood stormed out of the press conference without another word.

Brad Underwood is frustrated with officiating.

He says Illinois sent several calls in (to the league office) after the Michigan State game - and will send more in from this Wisconsin game.

Specifically, he says there was an 'egregious' missed out of bounds call early in OT and… pic.twitter.com/yUHrtJn3Lj
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) February 11, 2026

Yet the officiating from Tuesday's game was actually a secondary subject for Underwood, who spent the majority of his press conference speaking about how the absence of starters Kylan Boswell (hand) and Andrej Stojakovic (ankle) contributed to Illinois' poor showing on the glass, as well as defensively.

Admittedly, the Illini could have used Boswell and Stojakovic to match up with Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, Wisconsin’s rim-attacking guards. That said, the Illini were clearly more than capable without Boswell and Stojakovic, as they opened up a 12-point second-half lead before slowly seeing that number trickle away.

The whistles (and lack thereof) may not have helped the cause, but it certainly wasn’t the main culprit in Illinois’ home loss on Tuesday night. It also wasn't the first time Underwood cited (or alluded to) critical issues that were beyond his control. That can be viewed in one of two ways: 1) He fails to take accountability. Subsequently, Underwood likely doesn’t feel any need to make certain alterations moving forward – which will hurt Illinois come March.

Or 2) the Illini truly are battered, bruised and exhausted, but they will be back to operating like a well-oiled machine once Boswell and Stojakovic are back in the mix. Making any changes would only be detrimental to a team that, at full health, has a valid argument for being the best team in the country.

The reality is likely somewhere in the middle. Either way, Underwood must be prepared to make certain changes – even small, temporary ones – as the season throws occasional curveballs at his club. Predictable and inflexible is no way to go through life in March.