The Virginia Cavaliers took a controversial technical foul late in the second half Friday as they tried to hold off an NCAA Tournament upset bid.
The Cavaliers were locked in a tight game with 14th-seeded Wright State at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pa. with 5:32 to go in Friday’s first-round game. Virginia was nursing a 68-67 lead when Wright State’s TJ Burch was called for a foul.
After the call, Virginia’s Sam Lewis lightly tossed the ball back toward Burch, and that was enough to get whistled for a technical foul.
Calling this a tech on uva in a 1 pt
— John (@iam_johnw) March 20, 2026
Game in the ncaa tournament is so soft im sorry lmao you can’t call this pic.twitter.com/B7tVckPwA7
By the letter of the law, this is a technical foul, as CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore pointed out. To many, however, the complete harmlessness and apparent lack of intent on Lewis’ part did not justify the call.
Wright State made both ensuing free throws, but the call might have actually helped the Cavaliers lock in. After Wright State took a 70-67 lead, Virginia closed the game on a 15-3 run and wound up winning 82-73.
We see this sort of call made in the NBA at times, but even then it’s usually more blatant than this. Ultimately, rules are rules, and Virginia had no need to open the door for the officials to make such a call.
