WATCH: Fran McCaffery stares down referee late in Iowa vs. Michigan State
Late in the second half, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery received a technical for saying something to the referee. So, when he called timeout shortly thereafter, he walked up to the referee and did the next best thing.
He didn’t say anything at all. He just stared.
McCaffery walked up to referee Kelly Pfeifer and stared him down for about 20 seconds before finally walking back to the huddle. The moment quickly went viral as Iowa and Michigan State squared off in an offensive display.
At the time of the incident, Iowa trailed Michigan State 91-81 with 1:29 to play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. But the Hawkeyes didn’t go away, closing the gap and tying the game 101-101 on a last-second three by Payton Sandfort to force overtime. For what it’s worth, Iowa outscored Michigan State 20-10 after McCaffery’s moment with Pfeifer.
The Hawkeyes built on their momentum from regulation and used it to put together an impressive showing in overtime. Iowa went 3-for-7 from the field in the extra period while Michigan State struggled, going just 1-for-5 from the floor as the Hawkeyes held on to get the victory 112-106.
Kris Murray, Sandfort and Tony Perkins all led Iowa in scoring. Murray had a game-high 26 points while Sandfort and Perkins each had 22 as the Hawkeyes shot 50.7% from the field and made a season-high 17 three-pointers. In fact, Iowa made five threes in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and eventually get a huge Big Ten victory. With 218 combined points, it also marked the highest-scoring game in the Big Ten this season, easily surpassing the previous mark of 180.
Michigan State also had an impressive day on offense, but it wasn’t enough to get the win. The Spartans shot 59.3% from the floor and 73.3% from three-point territory, led by 31 points from Tyson Walker.