Gophers and officials adjusting this season in rough-and-tumble physical Big Ten

Late Tuesday night, after the Gophers lost 61-59 to rival Wisconsin, junior Elijah Hawkins went on social media to make a point about the officiating.

He posted video of what he considered a no-call foul on his shot attempt in the waning seconds.

“I think he’s done a good job of not getting frustrated with calls or no calls and playing through it,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said of Hawkins, who later deleted his post.

From Hawkins’ 5-11, 160-pound frame to Purdue’s 7-4, 290-pound Zach Edey, Big Ten men’s basketball officials have a wide range of players to consider when determining how physical teams are allowed to play.

The Gophers (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) have several players adjusting for the first time to Big Ten officiating. Road games, like Saturday’s at Penn State, can seem even tougher when fouls go heavily in the opponents’ favor.

In a league historically known for tough and rugged play, Big Ten officials have taken heat over the years about a lack of consistency, but the conference made recent changes to improve.

“The Big Ten is continuing to grow and getting better” at officiating the league’s physical play, Johnson said.

Last season, former longtime Big Ten referee Terry Wymer became head of officiating, a step toward more accountability for mistakes.

The Big Ten added 10 new basketball officials this season to the rotation that now is at 56 referees, including 43 who have officiated NCAA tournament games, according to the league. All of the new refs have previous Division I experience, as well.

After a cooling-off period of 24 hours, Wymer allows Big Ten coaches to contact him about games by sending him video clips by phone or email. The Gophers have submitted only a select few games this season for review on officiating, most recently when a season-high 24 fouls were called on them in last week’s 76-66 loss at Michigan State.

“The Big Ten is continuing to try to do a better job communicating with the head coach or staffs,” Johnson said. “Nobody wants to have ugly games. Nobody wants to have a game decided by free throws or decided by players who normally don’t play extended minutes because starters are on the bench. People want to see a clean game, and I think refs are the same.”

Last season, the Big Ten acknowledged that the officials made an error when allowing a buzzer-beating play to stand in Ohio State’s 67-66 home win over Rutgers. One player stepped out of bounds dribbling up the court, and another didn’t establish himself inbounds before receiving the ball.

Without publicly criticizing the officiating, Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said only that it was a tough and disappointing way to lose. Earlier this season, Penn State coach Mike Rhoades took a different approach when he said, “Do your job,” during comments about the technical he received contesting a no-call against Northwestern.

The Nittany Lions average a league-high 18.2 fouls and also lead the conference in opponents’ fouls per game at 19.9 this season. In Big Ten play, the Gophers average 18 fouls per game, and their opponents average 17.5 fouls.

“This is the Big Ten,” guard Braeden Carrington said. “[Physical play’s] going to happen almost every game. It’s not going to get easier.”

Johnson was called for a technical last season in the Big Ten tournament, but he’s avoided riding the refs much with a new team this year. They’ve had to learn not to let fouls hurt them, especially in crunch time.

Last week at Michigan State, Pharrel Payne and Cam Christie both had three fouls in the first half. Christie fouled out with eight minutes left.

In Tuesday’s loss against Wisconsin, Gophers leading scorer Dawson Garcia was called for a critical foul while boxing out his opponent with five seconds to play. On that same possession, down only a point, Hawkins appeared to draw contact with no call. Minnesota was called for 14 fouls and Wisconsin 13 by game’s end.

Capitalizing on being fouled is probably something more important for the Gophers than worrying about how rough Big Ten officials allow them or their opponents to play. They rank last in league games in foul shooting (60.7%).

“That’s just part of the game,” Garcia said about fouls. “Sometimes calls just won’t go your way. You just got to keep playing. You just have to have a next-possession type mindset.”