Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez defends himself over flagrant foul

Seton Hall’s Desi Rodriguez defended himself for a controversial flagrant foul after his Pirates lost 77-71 to Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Seton Hall was trailing Arkansas by just one point when Rodriguez went to commit an intentional foul as part of a comeback strategy. He pushed Arkansas’ Jaylen Barford with two hands, leading the Razorbacks player to hit the deck (video here). Upon review, a flagrant foul was called, which allowed Arkansas to put the game away.

After the game, Rodriguez defended his play.

“I didn’t realize how hard I pushed him, but I thought it was a basketball play,” Rodriguez said via ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. “It wasn’t intentional.”

On the other side of things, Arkansas no surprise felt the call was correct.

Jaylen Barford, the foulee: I didn't think he was going to push me like that.

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 17, 2017

Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson added, “I thought there was no play on the ball. He pushed the guy.”

There’s nothing that can be done about the play now, but you know it will sit with Seton Hall for a while. That’s a really rough way to lose.