The Wisconsin Badgers advanced to the Big Ten tournament championship game Saturday with a massive 77-74 win over top-seeded Michigan State. It was another spectacular game from John Tonje, who led the Badgers with 32 points. However, one of the stories in the first half of the game were the Big Ten officials.
It is now three straight games with one technical foul called against the Wisconsin Badgers. Against Northwestern, Steven Crowl received a tech after some NSFW language after a big block on Ty Berry. At the beginning of the second half against UCLA, Nolan Winter received a questionable dead-ball contact technical foul.
Badger fans who watched Saturday’s game against Michigan State might have been the softest one yet.
John Blackwell receives Wisconsin’s third technical foul of the tournament
With under two minutes left in the first half, Blackwell drove to the rim and collided with a sliding Jeremy Fears Jr., who was correctly called for a blocking foul. Blackwell turned and lightly tossed the ball to the sideline, but it inadvertently hit Fears Jr., who objected to it. This led to all three officials going to a monitor review, which took an egregious amount of time, and decided to give a deadball technical foul to Blackwell.
A blocking foul is called on Jeremy Fears. After further review, a technical is later assessed to Wisconsin's Blackwell for throwing the ball on Fears on the ground after the play was dead. pic.twitter.com/uuVkZLzuvS
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 15, 2025
John Blackwell gets a dead-ball contact technical foul?
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 15, 2025
For what? Dropping the ball at Fears while he's on the ground?
Man, this crew sucks. https://t.co/qfqm1Nw5Er
Big Ten basketball refs should be the only people in Guantanamo Bay
— Super Bowl Champion Not A Basketball Fan (@drewhamm5) March 15, 2025
Same bullshit as yesterday.
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) March 15, 2025
You have an absolutely unwatchable product. Disgusting, embarrassing stuff every single year from the officials and nothing changes.
— Badgers Ball Knower (@BadgersBallKnow) March 15, 2025
"Why aren't people watching college sports any more???" Because the people in charge don't care about the product! @B1GMBBall @bigten
Even some prominent former Badger basketball players posted on X about the technical foul:
I never remember the Big Ten refs being this bad… what happened??
— Frank Kaminsky III (@FSKPart3) March 15, 2025
SOFTTTT
— Zak Showalter (@ZShowbball333) March 15, 2025
Now, had the Badgers lost this game, the officials, Brian Dorsey, Keith Kimble, and Randy Richardson, would not be responsible. The Badgers held the lead throughout most of the second half. Wisconsin had plenty of chances to put the game away, but Michigan State is too talented of a team to roll over. All in all, it was a tremendous game, and a major win for the Badgers' chances of landing the three-seed in the Milwaukee region.
That said, it's aggravating that this crew took such a long look at the replay monitor and decided to issue a technical foul on an action that, to be honest, was something of nothing. It was a call that did not need to be made, and thankfully, did not cost the Wisconsin Badgers.