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TCU's Tanner Toolson called for controversial flagrant foul on Duke's Cameron Boozer

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz03/21/26NickSchultz_7

As he went to block a shot from Cameron Boozer in the second half of Saturday’s Round of 32 game, TCU guard Tanner Toolson was called for a controversial flagrant foul. The whistle drew pushback from CBS’ Grant Hill and Gene Steratore, as well.

Toolson went to block a Boozer jump shot with 15:26 to play in the second half and got caught up in the air. On the way down, he appeared to reach toward the Duke star’s upper body area, and the officials blew the whistle. During the media timeout, they went to the monitor and upgraded it to a Flagrant 1.

After the review, Hill criticized the call. He argued Toolson was simply looking to brace his own fall and didn’t have any intention to hurt Boozer.

“I don’t know,” Hill said. “I get the call there. Certainly, you can see him wrapping up. But as someone who’s been in that situation before, you’re trying to prevent yourself from falling. But the call is the call.”

When asked, Steratore agreed with Hill’s assessment of the call. Although he acknowledged the referees’ perspective – seeing Toolson potentially grab at the head or neck area – he noted the need to make sure the TCU guard wasn’t also putting himself in harm’s way by breaking his own fall.

“I’m with Grant, although I’ve never been at that elevation before,” Steratore responded. “When Toolson’s starting to fall, it feels like he’s just reaching for something to brace himself.

“Now, in the officials’ defense, when you do do that and you’re grabbing around the neck or something, the potential maybe for Boozer to have injury or some of that, it rises there, potentially. But to me, I like like he was just falling and looking for something to soften his fall.”

Physicality became a factor early in Saturday’s matchup between Duke and TCU. In the first half, David Punch caught the wrong end of an elbow from Cameron Boozer, which the officials also upgraded to a flagrant foul. Punch came up with a bloody nose and headed back toward the locker room to get cleaned up before going back in the game.

All the while, TCU had an upset on its mind against Duke and took a lead at one point in the second half. However, the Blue Devils were able to take back control with a 17-2 run as they closed in on a berth in the Sweet Sixteen.