John Beilein ejected at end of first half vs. Penn State

Michigan Basketball played arguably its worst half of basketball of the season in the opening 20 minutes at Penn State on Tuesday night, a team that has won only a single game in conference play. The Wolverines would head into the locker room down 40-27 after a buzzer-beating shot by the Nittany Lions, but what happened as the teams were heading into halftime was even more egregious than the play on the court.

During the play that resulted in the buzzer-beater, head coach John Beilein was heated at the officials for missing a moving-screen call on Zavier Simpson. He took issue with it and was given a technical, then was given a second technical while he was walking away.

Beilein was pretty visibly frustrated with some of the non-calls and calls in the first half of the game and it boiled over, but I can’t for the life of me remember him ever being tossed in a game. It was a bad look from the refs, who once again made a big moment about themselves and their perpetually fragile egos. There’s nothing more cowardly for an official to do than eject someone while they are walking away.

Nobody pays for a ticket or tunes into a game to watch them, but here we are.

What it did was give the Nittany Lions four free throws to start the second half, three of which were made, giving Penn State a 43-27 lead right off the bat.

It should not excuse how putrid a half of basketball that the Wolverines played at all. They were bullied by a team that was 1-11 coming into conference play on the night and once again were horrid offensively from the perimeter. Their night just happened to go from bad to worse. After the first 20 minutes of play.

Assistant coach Saddi Washington took over for Beilein after the ejection.