A furious Fran McCaffery had his Iowa team walk off the court without shaking hands after defeating North Dakota on Tuesday night, but he was already regretting it Wednesday morning.
McCaffery’s ire stemmed from North Dakota engaging in what he felt was rough play late in the 84-73 win, culminating in a North Dakota player stealing the ball and going for a layup with three seconds left despite an 11-point deficit and Iowa willing to sit on the ball and run out the clock. The Iowa head coach had his team walk off the court without shaking hands in response.
“I wasn’t pleased with how the game ended and the things that happened,” McCaffery said after the game, via C.L. Brown of ESPN. “I’ll say this, I have a lot of respect for [North Dakota head coach] Brian [Jones] and [assistant] Jeff Horner. I don’t think they teach that stuff. But I was not having it. That’s not the way to play.”
On Wednesday morning, McCaffery struck a different tone in speaking to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
“I feel bad about it. I have a lot of respect for Brian Jones,” McCaffery said. “I wish it didn’t happen. I wish I shook hands.
“It was a hard-fought game, and I was being protective of my players. Peter Jok has been getting beat up, and it was just a few plays in the last minute that I was frustrated about. But again, I think Brian Jones is a high-character guy and a heck of a coach. Assistant Jeff Horner is one of the best players ever to play here. I shouldn’t have done it. I feel terrible about what happened.”
McCaffery has a history of being a pretty high-strung guy, and in the heat of the moment, he clearly lost his cool.
