Shaheen Holloway blasts officials over lopsided foul count vs. UConn: 'Making me more sick'

Shaheen Holloway did not feel too well during Saturday’s game vs. UConn. The Seton Hall head coach was dealing with the flu throughout the entire week. But Holloway still made the trip to Storrs, watching his team come just short of pulling off a massive upset. He then walked out of Gampel Pavilion feeling “more sick” about the officiating.

“I can’t believe that. I’m sick already. That’s making me more sick,” Holloway said. “How about that? Once again, you said it, I’m just answering the question. But that’s crazy. Let’s just make sure we understand how crazy this is, to take 21 free throws and we took only two. That’s crazy. That should never happen.”

Those numbers Holloway mentions are specifically in the second half. Seton Hall only took two shots from the free-throw line, while UConn got 21. In total, the Pirates had nine attempts, only for the Huskies to have 20 more. Quite the difference when the margin of victory turns out to be four points.

One play Seton Hall fans were not too happy with came in the closing moments. UConn was up three, still having fouls to give. Adam Clark knew the situation and felt as if a defender grabbed his jersey, only to get a shot up from deep, intending to get three free throws. But the official never blew his whistle and the ball went out of bounds. UConn forced the turnover and eventually put the game on ice… at the free throw line.

Holloway knows Seton Hall let one slip through their hands on Saturday. No matter how the officiating played out, this was one the Pirates could have taken with them to Selection Sunday. Even so, given the situation with Holloway’s health, he handed out a lot of credit to his players.

“Today was a great chance for us to prove it, and I thought we did that for 38 minutes, but man, unbelievable opportunity we let slip by,” Holloway said. “I want to give my guys credit. I wasn’t really around the whole week because I was dealing with the flu. Guys came out and competed in a hostile environment like this.”

On3’s James Fletcher did not have Seton Hall included in the latest edition of Bracketology. Some wins to close out the regular season and big-time luck in the Big East Tournament are going to be needed. Tuesday will be the next time Seton Hall takes the court, heading to Xavier.