March Madness 2022: Illinois head coach rips officials, says ref told him technical foul was wrong call

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Illinois head coach Brad Underwood tore into officials Sunday after guard RJ Melendez was called for a controversial technical foul in the team's NCAA men's tournament loss to Houston.

Melendez's emphatic breakaway slam dunk cut Houston's lead to just four with less than nine minutes left in the second half of Illinois' second-round matchup against No. 5 Houston. 

As the crowd roared, Melendez hung on the rim to stop his forward movement, but he was given a technical foul by official Brian O'Connell for hanging on the rim too long. 

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Illinois head coach Brad Underwood disagrees with a technical foul being called on a dunk by RJ Melendez during the second half of a college basketball game against Houston in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh, Sunday, March 20, 2022. Houston won 68-53. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Underwood deemed the call "deflating" and said it "changes the momentum of the game." He also noted that the ref told him he shouldn't have made the call. 

"To have that called in that moment?," Underwood said. "(O'Connell) told me he should never have called it. Maybe it's personal, I don't know. To call it like that, when a kid has a head of steam going, 100 mph?"

"Come on. And then to kill momentum like that? Horrible," the coach added. 

The controversial call was also criticized by NBA legend Reggie Miller, who was on color commentary during the broadcast. 

"No. No. Absolutely not. I’m sorry," Miller said. "First of all, his momentum is taking him with him. He has to swing back. You cannot give this young man a technical foul for this. He’s not showing up or