There are plenty of refs that are issues, but Top 50 referees in the Big Ten rotation like DJ are not the ones to complain about.
In fact, Rutgers is 13-12 in its last 25 games reffed by Carstensen (from the start of the 2019-2020 season through yesterday).
He's usually the kind of guy you want to see on the road, much like Bo Boroski was for years.
Please tell me this is sarcasm and not serious. Are you his son?
Were you watching the game last night? After MSU took its first shot and missed, an MSU player got the offensive rebound by blatantly shoving Cliff toward the end line and grabbing the rebound. Somehow not one of this officiating crew noticed it. That immediately told me that MSU would be out-rebounding RU during this game. No surprise. I called it. If you doubt me, put on the replay. You cannot miss it; it is so obvious.
A short time later, Cliff goes up for a dunk and is mauled by the defender. Again these officials somehow missed it. Cliff is quickly called for a far less blatant foul and is forced to sit - advantage MSU.
Losing this game by almost 20 of course excuses the refs from responsibility for the loss. It does not excuse them from obvious favoritism for a Hall-of-Fame coach in an intimidating environment. Unfortunately some of these officials believe that players on traditional power teams are far less likely to commit fouls and call the games feeling that way.
Every time I see this guy walk on the floor, I know we are going to get the worst of his calls. I have been right most of the time. Pikiell may need to be more assertive to be sure, but maybe it is just that we are Rutgers, the perennial whipping boy.
Officiating is a difficult job, and I would likely suck at it worse than these guys. I commend them for taking the challenge. One would think they would be more capable than they seem to be though.
The interesting thing is that the fouls started to even out toward the end of the game, once the result was no longer in doubt.
