Is a brief staredown worthy of a technical foul? Tony Padilla — who was a referee for Thursday night’s Sweet 16 matchup between BYU and Alabama — says yes. Pretty much everyone else watching the game, including announcers Brian Anderson and Jim Jackson, begged to differ.
The play in question came early in the second half. BYU’s Trevin Knell made a three-pointer, cutting the Alabama lead to eight points. But seconds after the three, Padilla blew his whistle and assessed a technical foul to Knell. As Mark Sears was shooting the technical foul shots for the Crimson Tide, Anderson tried to explain what happened.
“Tony Padilla’s kind of showing us that he’s talking on his way down,” Anderson said. “I mean, it’s a big shot for BYU, Jim.”
A replay did confirm that Knell did turn to Alabama’s Labaron Philon and appeared to say something to him. But this all happened as Knell was running down the court, never stopping or even really slowing down.
“He looked at — that’s why. ‘Cause he turned and looked. I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I’m kinda old school,” Jackson added. “It wasn’t a gesture. He said something. This is gonna be intense. The Alabama player didn’t react in a negative way. So, to me, a tech at that particular time, was unwarranted.”
A lot of people watching the game agreed with Jackson’s take.
Tony Padilla has been awful all season. Has no business being in this game. https://t.co/U87bGs03sl
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 28, 2025
Alabama put the game away later in the second half, posting a decisive 113-88 win over BYU.
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