Kentucky nearly lost its second game of the season on Monday night, and this loss would have been much more shocking than the first. Cleveland State took a 31-27 lead over the Wildcats into halftime and led by as many as seven points with just over five minutes remaining in the game. However, Kentucky was claw its way back and come away with a 68-61 victory.
One of the reasons the Wildcats escaped disaster was that they shot 11 free throws during the game’s final seven minutes. Cleveland State got to the charity stripe just twice during that span. After the game, Cleveland State assistant coach Jermaine Kimbrough took to Twitter to blast the officials. The tweets, which were later deleted, were captured on social media by The Dagger:
The Vikings were without starting forward Anton Gray for the final two minutes — when the score was still tied — after he picked up his fourth foul on a double technical and foul No. 5 with an offensive foul for hooking a defender in the post. Kentucky went on a 24-7 run to end the game, which Kimbrough obviously thought was a result of poor officiating.
You can understand why Kimbrough was upset, but it’s always best to stay off Twitter when you’re on an emotional high like that. Accusing officials of “cheating” your team is pretty serious stuff, as I’m sure Kimbrough’s wallet will soon realize.
