Connor McCaffery on ejection: ‘He literally got ejected 2 games ago for punching somebody in the face and he’s saying I’m dirty?’
After a slow start and a 10-point deficit, Iowa rallied and took control for an 84-74 win over Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament.
But one Hawkeye wasn’t on the floor for the finish.
Connor McCaffery received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game with just under 3 minutes left to play.
Although he said his first technical was a result of just talking to another player — “We weren’t talking trash, we weren’t saying any swear words” — McCaffery admitted he “maybe deserved” his second technical “a little bit more, because we bumped each other.”
McCaffery said his ejection was likely inevitable because of how the recipient of that bump — Rutgers guard Paul Mulcahy — was playing. It didn’t help that Mulcahy, who was ejected against Indiana earlier this month, was complaining to the officials that McCaffery was “a dirty player.”
“He literally got ejected two games ago for punching somebody in the face and he’s saying I’m dirty?” McCaffery said in a postgame interview with reporters. “Go back and check the tapes. He tried to trip Kris [Murray] in the first half — when Kris was on a fast break he tried to trip Kris. Then he dove at his legs at the end of the game. So realistically, I’m probably getting tossed either way.”
Here’s Connor McCaffery on getting tossed with two technical fouls:
— Robert Read (@Robert_Read34) March 11, 2022
“I do regret getting into it at all,” McCaffery said. “Obviously, I wanted to stay in there and celebrate.”
He wasn’t the only person to get run with two technical fouls. Rutgers’ David VanDyke was ejected less than a minute after McCaffery.
“They threw their strength coach out. I’ve never seen that in my life.”
The Hawkeyes will play Indiana at Noon on Saturday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
