Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon was not pleased with the officiating in Ohio State's 79-72 win, and he took the opportunity to complain about it in his postgame press conference.
Turgeon's beef was with the way he perceived the officiating of the low post, specifically the matchup between Kaleb Wesson and Jalen "Stix" Smith, where he felt Wesson was given more leeway than he should have.
"He was allowed to be the bully offensively today," Turgeon said of Wesson. "I mean, he stuck a forearm right in Stix's chest twice. I guess you're allowed to do that here in this building."
Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann did not share Turgeon's observation, to put it mildly.
"He was described as being a bully?" Holtmann asked, with an incredulous expression on his face. "Oh. Mark (Turgeon) said that? To each his own. His opinion can be his opinion. I thought Kaleb was physical and well within the rules and played hard and played tough and played physical.
"Listen, that kid's gotten pushed and shoved and the number of time people have flopped on his throughout this year... he played well within the rules – as he should have – today. Kudos to him for that, because that can be frustrating."
Wesson finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds – flirting with a double-double – while helping lock down Smith, one of the conference's top post players, on the other end.
Entering Sunday night's game, Smith had scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games this season, including the last 18. He'd also pulled down double-digit rebounds in his past nine games – marking nine-straight double-doubles – with a career-high 19 rebounds coming less than a week before
Against Ohio State, Smith was unable to get going on the scoresheet or on the glass, finishing with just eight points and seven rebounds.
