Oregon State player ejected for intentionally tripping a referee
Irate that referee Tommy Nunez didn’t call a foul when a lunging Jakob Poeltl sent him sprawling to the floor as he tried to dribble up court, Oregon State forward Jarmal Reid lost his composure and allowed his anger to cloud his judgment.
First Reid complained about the no call and made eye contact with Nunez while getting up. Then Reid stuck his right leg and blatantly tripped Nunez as the veteran referee ran up court.
Jarmal Reid got ejected for tripping the ref! pic.twitter.com/1t90PhXfn9
— Jackson Prince (@JcksnPrnc) January 18, 2016
Nunez assessed Reid a flagrant 2 foul and ejected him from the game, a decision that remarkably had the Oregon State player throwing his hands up in apparent disagreement. It was as if Reid thought that he could sell his actions as unintentional even though TV replays were sure to show the trip was deliberate.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott will undoubtedly review the incident Monday to determine whether Reid will receive further punishment. Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle told reporters in Salt Lake City on Sunday that Reid “swore he didn’t do anything,” but that the Beavers staff intended to look more closely into what happened later that night.
“I will have to review and discuss the entire play with Jarmal,” Tinkle said. “Obviously, we don’t — ever — want to shed a negative light on our program or university or conduct ourselves in any manner other than first class, on or off the court.”
The worst part of Reid’s meltdown was that it came in a tie game with less than three minutes left to play.
Utah’s Brandon Taylor only made one of two free throws in the wake of the incident, but Oregon State never led again the rest of the game. The Utes finished the game on a 21-5 surge to escape with a 59-53 victory that allowed them to avoid falling to 1-4 in Pac-12 play.
There’s certainly no excuse that will justify Reid’s actions, but Oregon State did have reason to believe it was getting the short end of the whistle. The Beavers were whistled for 24 personal fouls compared to just 10 for the Utes. In one key second-half play, Utah’s Kyle Kuzma grabbed without establishing himself inbounds, a call missed by none other than Nunez.
Doe that explain Reid’s temporary insanity? Perhaps. Does it justify it? Not even close.
However bad the officiating was, his actions were even worse.
– – – – – – –
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
