After a relatively clean first half between Florida and Houston in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament championship game in which just four fouls were called, whistles echoed through the Alamodome in San Antonio much more frequently in the early minutes of the second half.
One of them was directed at an unusual offender.
With the Florida Gators trailing 36-30 with 17:21 remaining in regulation, a foul was called on Florida guard Will Richard, much to the objections of the Gators’ bench on the other side of the court.
Several exasperated assistant coaches jumped up from their seats and onto the elevated court to voice their frustration with the call, prompting the officials to assess a technical foul – not to a specific individual, but to the Florida bench.
The Florida bench is assessed a technical following a foul call on Will Richard. pic.twitter.com/lrm9MSkqTB
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 8, 2025
Houston All-American guard L.J. Cryer made one of two technical foul free throws. The Cougars, who kept possession of the ball after the foul shots, followed that up with a 3-pointer to extend their advantage to 10.
Among the directives the NCAA men’s basketball rules committee issued to officials heading into the 2024-25 season was the “consistent enforcement of bench decorum, the coaching box and unsporting conduct rules for both players and bench personnel.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida bench gets technical foul in NCAA championship game vs Houston
