One thing was made especially clear during Monday’s National Championship Game between North Carolina and Gonzaga: The referees were going to make their presence felt.
The officials were calling so many fouls that both teams were in the double bonus midway through the second half. One foul in particular that got a lot of attention was the fourth called on Gonzaga’s Zach Collins, just a few minutes into the second half:
Game changing call here, what a joke. pic.twitter.com/kcxSfH7bTF
— Matt Smith (@SamENole) April 4, 2017
Collins was called for his third foul a minute into the second half. The fourth one with just under 16 minutes to play in the game, leading Collins to take a seat on the bench. He later re-entered the game but fouled out with 5:03 left.
Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams and Przemek Karnowski, and Kennedy Meeks all had been whistled for four fouls as well with several minutes left in the game, resulting in many free throw attempts.
