Hlas: Fran McCaffery sees red ... again

IOWA CITY — So, it wasn't really the best look for Iowa men's basketball on Thursday night.

The Hawkeyes lost to Big Ten leader Maryland 84-76 Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Those things happen. But what seemed to make more of a lasting impression with some who watched the ESPN telecast of the game was Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery being seen yelling in anger at an official immediately after the contest.

That got some of the national sports media hot-taking away on Twitter.

'How does a coach act like that and then counsel his players to keep their composure?' posted Seth Davis of CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated.

'Fran McCaffrey (misspelled) doing what he does after close loss: strides into floor to scream at refs before shaking hands w Maryland. No composure.' Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde stated.

'Fran McCaffery just berated the refs, swore on national TV and nearly missed the handshake line,' said ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf.

I love how Fran McCaffery waited until the exact moment the clock hit 0 to go nuclear. Veteran move by Mt. McCaffery... January 20, 2017

I love how Fran McCaffery waited until the exact moment the clock hit 0 to go nuclear. Veteran move by Mt. McCaffery... pic.twitter.com/2USXE6XWQL

— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber)

In McCaffery's postgame press conference, Iowa associate sports information director Matt Weitzel stepped in when the coach was asked about the officiating, saying McCaffery's complaint was that Maryland didn't get a delay-of-game infraction late in the game when McCaffery thought one was warranted. That would have been the Terrapins' second such violation of the game, resulting in an automatic technical foul.

It was a head's-up play by Weitzel, preventing McCaffery from discussing the officiating and getting a Big Ten fine, though the coach didn't sound like he would have, anyway.

After Weitzel's explanation, McCaffery added 'But as how I felt about the rest of the officiating, they were fine.'

Small-picture, it was a tempest in a teapot. A coach fired off a heated parting shot at the officials, and that's not a great thing, but sports life goes on. We see it all the time. Tom Crean, Bob Huggins, Jim Boeheim, et al.

However, this was McCaffery, and he is widely known for outbursts that are colorful, to put it quite politely. If you want to exaggerate a bit, his face has 50 shades of red. He can work up a rage that can match anyone's in sports.

Do that enough times, and you get written off as a wild man by people who don't know you. You become a caricature to many, especially those who only see you every now and then on TV.

Which is unfortunate, because McCaffery is also a lot of good things. Which is what people in other places often say about their coaches who are most known for their eruptions. It's what Indiana folks said over and over about Bob Knight.

Related: Iowa's foundation firm under Fran McCaffery

'But questionable calls didn't stop his Iowa team. Maryland did,' Medcalf added in his social media comment. 'Melo Trimble did. That early 15-point hole did. Trimble looked all-Big Ten down the stretch.'

It's hard to argue with that. Trimble scored nine points as the Terps turned a 72-69 deficit into an 80-74 lead that stood up. For a little while it looked like the Hawkeyes would get their second straight Thursday night home win over a ranked team after trailing by nine points at halftime.

You could say the grind of an 18-game Big Ten schedule will wear on a freshman-laden team, and you would be correct. But Maryland starts three frosh itself, and its kids are really all right with a 17-2 record, 5-1 in the conference.

The hardest thing to watch this night wasn't McCaffery's pursuit of that referee, but Hawkeye senior Peter Jok laboring through back trouble and not playing as well as he normally does for a second-straight game.

Jok could barely jam on a breakaway. While his teammates got in some shooting during the halftime warm-up period, Jok was on his back on the court, getting his back muscles stretched. He says he had spasms.

'It was hard tonight because it was really hurting,' Jok said.

Having no game until next Wednesday is a good thing for the whole team. Jok can get rest and treatment, his young teammates can catch their breath, and the head coach can chill.