Louisville's Mike Pegues Voices Frustrations With Overtime Officiating vs. UNC

The Cardinals were on the opposite end of two egregious calls in overtime of their loss to the Tar Heels.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's safe to say that Louisville's Tuesday night matchup with North Carolina was fraught with controversy, particularly in the later stages.

The overtime period of the game was rife with questionable officiating that benefitted the visiting Tar Heels, ultimately playing a critical role in the Cardinals' 90-83 loss at the KFC Yum! Center.

The drama with the refs in the extra period largely circled around UNC big man Armando Bacot, as he was involved in two separate incidents where Louisville felt they were given the short end of the stick.

With roughly one minute to go and North Carolina up by three, Bacot and Louisville forward Matt Cross went up for a rebound and got involved in a jump ball in the way down.

Cross was sent to the floor after some aggressive moves to take the ball away, in which his teammate, Jae'Lyn Withers, took exception. Withers gave Bacot a shove, Bacot proceeded to sell it with a flop, and Withers was assessed a technical.

Would have been Louisville’s ball (possession arrow) down 3. Instead, 2 shots and the ball for UNC as this was deemed a flagrant foul on 24 white. https://t.co/7RjoSfuLZr pic.twitter.com/iBALfHSPAb

— Cyrus Wittig (@CyWittig) February 2, 2022

Louisville interim head coach Mike Pegues wasn't exactly pleased with the call, to say the least.

"I was frustrated with the call because Jae'Lyn is not the kind of kid who is going to walk into a scrum and start something," he said. "I haven't seen the play, but I am pretty sure Jae'Lyn was just trying to discard the kid so he could get to his teammate. He is not that type of kid. They don't know our kids. They don't coach them every day. But I just feel like in a three-point game, that is a tough call to make.

It wasn't the only call that Pegues voiced his displeasure with.

With 17 seconds left, and Louisville still trailing by three, Bacot and Louisville's Sydney Curry went up for a rebound after a Cross miss. Bacot boxed Curry out by delivering an arm bar to his neck, in which *Curry* was called for the foul.

Pegues slammed the scorer's table out of frustration, and was slapped with a technical himself. UNC sunk three of their four ensuing free throws, essentially icing the game.

The “foul” in question on Sydney Curry, as well as what Mike Pegues drew a technical for. Questionable to say the least. pic.twitter.com/3cboe5H8xk

— Matt McGavic (@Matt_McGavic) February 2, 2022

"First of all, my technical was inexcusable. I am irate after the big scrum with Sydney that looked like, to me, like a clear foul on Bacot," Pegues said. "It went the other way. I was completely shocked by that.

"Nonetheless, I need to temper myself when things are seemingly something that I think it should be. I am responsible, in part, for why we lost tonight because I have to control my temper better. I apologized to my team and to our fan base for getting that tech."

Pegues did not want to place sole blame on the officiating for the loss, but did add that the Louisville administration is taking it up with the ACC, saying that "they are looking into those calls because those are two tough calls."

While the end result was disappointing for the team, Pegues commended his guys for the effort they have shown over the last two games following a tumultuous week. Louisville and head coach Chris Mack mutually parted ways last Wednesday.

"On paper, we are 0-2 against Duke and Carolina, but in spirit, in heart and competitive spirit, in toughness and resilience, character and fight … I saw it all from from our guys tonight," he said. "I saw it in the Duke game. I saw it even more tonight, even down a man."

The Cardinals were short both starting forward/center Malik Williams and reserve center Roosevelt Wheeler against Carolina. Williams was indefinitely suspended earlier in the week, and Wheeler was unable to clear concussion protocols after taking a blow in the prior game against Duke.

"I am so proud of our team and the fight that they showed," Pegues said. "We were down ten with twelve and a half minutes left in the second half. At times, when we have hit that level of adversity, this team has not responded that way. Tonight, they broke the pattern. I am proud of that. We need that to continue."

(Photo of Mike Pegues, Sydney Curry: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)

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