Controversial foul call leads to Bill Self's ejection and ugly chaos

Things did not go right for the Kansas basketball team on Tuesday at Arizona State. After Arizona pummeled the Jayhawks on Saturday, the Sun Devils took their turn pounding KU.

After a slow start in the game Tuesday, Kansas had cut an early deficit to seven points with six minutes to go in the first half. Darryn Peterson ran down the lane, then attempted to swing out to the wing. Sun Devil guard Bryce Ford held Peterson by the arms and jersey as he went through the lane, then Ford continued to physically impede Peterson's progress by bumping him, holding him, and grabbing him.

Even as the whistle finally blew, Ford was holding onto Peterson's jersey up around the shoulder. This was clearly a foul (that should have been called much earlier) by Ford. Inexplicably, the official called an offensive foul on Peterson.

Chaos ensued after the bad call, and Kansas spiraled, getting blown out in the first half

Truly, it was one of the worst calls you will see this season. Once the official made the call, Kansas head coach Bill Self ran out on the floor, voicing his displeasure. The first technical was an easy one. When a coach is that far from the bench, vehemently yelling at an official, there is a good chance they will get teed up.

The second technical, however, was ridiculous, especially considering just how egregious the foul call was. During his postgame comments, posted by 247Sports, Self said he was told by official Doug Sirmons to get back to the bench, and evidently Self did not move fast enough to please the spotlight-seeking Sirmons. The official gave another technical to Self, ejecting him from the game.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only misstep by the officiating crew. Later in the first half, one referee can be seen leaning over Kansas assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, who is sitting on the bench. The official is barking at Townsend, and when Jacques Vaughn, who took over the head coaching duties once Self was tossed, calmly tried to talk to the official, he too was assessed a technical.

Just to illustrate how unusual it is for Vaughn to draw a technical, in his five-plus years as an NBA head coach, he was teed up just once.

This wasn't the only issue the crew had on Tuesday. In the second half, as KU was cutting into the 20-point Arizona State lead, a Sun Devil defender stole a ball at midcourt (after holding Melvin Council Jr. by the jersey), and as he raced toward the basket, he clearly double-dribbled. No call was made.

The result of that play was Elmarko Jackson was called for a flagrant one foul, even though the angle under the basket showed Jackson made an obvious attempt at the ball, barely missed, and then hit the shooter's arm. Yes, it was a hard foul but did not deserve the flagrant call. Still, if this incompetent crew hadn't missed the double-dribble, the foul would not have occurred.

Let's make one thing clear. As bad as these officials were in this game, KU was worse. They couldn't shoot from anywhere on the court. None of the Jayhawks played particularly well. KU had moments when they played well defensively, especially at the beginning of the second half, but late in the game, whenever they needed a stop, they couldn't get one.

Kansas has not been playing well, or consistently, for the last three weeks. Yes, the officials did have a negative impact on this game, way more than they should have, but the Jayhawks lost the game due to their subpar performance.

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