Vanderbilt HC Mark Byington gives half-hearted criticism of officials
Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Mark Byington probably had good reason to be upset after his team lost to then-No. 5 Tennessee, 81-76, over on Saturday.
Vandy had a 41-33 lead going into halftime, but the Commodores were completely overrun in the second half. Part of the issue for Vandy was undoubtedly the foul disparity. At the end of the game, the Commodores had been called for 21 fouls while the Volunteers were called for only 13.
Those fouls, especially in the second half, helped Tennessee to get back in the game and ultimately win it. Byington was asked about the foul disparity after the contest, which led to a somewhat half-hearted criticism of the referees.
“It’s gonna take me a while to probably think about it. I’m not dodging your question. You know, I could just say for anybody, you always want consistency and, you know, just let it be the way it is from the first minute to the last minute,” Byington said (h/t On3).
Tennessee shot 22 free throws compared to just 14 from Vanderbilt. That was a big reason for the comeback in the second half. Ultimately, though, Byington decided to hedge his bets a bit and put some of the blame on his own team for getting into foul trouble.
“We got in foul trouble early and it hurt having my guys in foul trouble,” Byington said. “But at the same time, you know, these refs do a good job.”
Perhaps Byington was thinking about his pocketbook and a potential fine, or maybe he wanted to get some sort of statement out there but wasn’t yet ready to burn bridges.
He does have to fight for his team, though, especially in a stacked SEC. It will be interesting to see if the calls change for Vandy moving forward as a result of this statement.
