It’s well after-the-fact, but it appears that Marshall Henderson should have received a technical foul following his Gator Chomp antics during Ole Miss’s 66-63 comeback win over Florida in the SEC Tournament finals.
The lightning-rod Ole Miss shooting guard chomped at the crowd following his rainbow 3-pointer with 7:14 left that put Ole Miss ahead 59-53.
According to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball rulebook, the following classify as unsporting technical infractions:
– Using profanity or vulgarity; taunting, baiting or ridiculing another player or bench personnel; or pointing a finger at or making obscene gestures toward another player or bench personnel.
– Inciting undesirable crowd reaction.
It would appear that the chomp would cite an undesirable crowd reaction, even though there were more Ole Miss fans than Florida fans at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. When asked whether a technical should have been assessed, Southeastern Conference coordinator of officials Gerald Boudreaux said: “The official must detect the infraction on the floor and make the judgement if it falls under one of those categories.”
Tony Greene, Joe Lindsay and Mike Nance called the SEC Tournament final games. Florida coach Billy Donovan also mentioned a couple of questionable “momentum plays” that went against the Gators in his Monday news conference, including a missed goaltend call on an Erik Murphy shot attempt and two fouls called on Scottie Wilbekin on Henderson 3-point attempts that resulted in six made free throws. But it’s all behind the Gators now as they prepare for their second-round NCAA Tournament game Friday in Austin, Texas, against Northwestern State.
