Mike Rhoades T'd up by new Big Ten referee nemesis at Iowa
By Josh Yourish
Penn State’s trip to Ames Iowa didn’t get off to a hot start. The Nittany Lions fell behind early in the first half and Mike Rhoades’s frustration boiled over. It was a rare sight when Rhoades got his third technical foul since last season’s NCAA Tournament at VCU and just the second of his inaugural season at Penn State. However, Nate Bauer who covers Penn State for the On3 network revealed something even more surprising.
Interesting. Rhoades has 3 techs since 2023s NCAAs. Jan. 10/NW and tonight.
— Nate Bauer (@NateBauerBWI) February 28, 2024
Carstensen has been on the crew for all three instances. Harris called the NW T. (Now Baldwin picks up one.)
After NW game, Rhoades said this of officiating: https://t.co/ArHaWBk5gu pic.twitter.com/F4qomZNCSh
As Bauer’s tweet points out, Rhoades criticized Cartensen’s officiating crew after the Northwestern game, a 76-72 loss at the Bryce Jordan Center back on January 10. Tonight, with Cartensen leading the crew in Ames, four of the first five fouls of the game went against Rhoades’s Nittany Lions and five of the first eight prior to Rhoades’s technical.
However, the officiating evened out through the course of the contest with 11 first-half fouls called against Iowa and 10 against Penn State. Iowa’s ability to preserve its early lead had everything to do with Penn State’s inability to get stops on eh defensive end, and almost nothing to do with officiating.
Still, I can’t imagine that Rhoades will be getting a drink with Cartensen any time soon and it will be interesting to see if he gets another technical the next time Penn State draws his crew or if he has more postgame criticism.
Following the January 10th loss, Rhoades said, “The frustration of it is, everybody has a responsibility when you’re in a game. Everybody. Coaches, people who are running the event, the referees, everybody has a job to do, so do your job. That’s all I’m asking.”