As everyone has been posting, I think we are going to have to get used to giving up more fouls per game given Underwood’s up-tempo style and aggressive defense. That being said, I think the big frustration with fouls this year comes down to three things:
1.) All the games have been close, so perceived injustices get magnified and quickly become decisions that turned a game against us.
2.) We have been subjected to a string of bad/questionable calls in a few games in a row: missed goaltending x 3, rule-breaking call reversals, free-throws awarded on a charge, and free-throws with less than a second left during a physical game.
3.) The foul discrepancy on the road (vs. Wake and UNLV) was pretty awful given both teams were physical and playing fast. At home Illinois is fouling 22.6/game and the competition is fouling 25.8/game; this gives us a +3.2 advantage. On the road, we are fouling 27.7/game and the opposition is fouling 19.7/game; this is a -8 disadvantage. It’s a small sample size, but that is a really big swing between home and away.