In Maryland’s 75-67 loss to No. 3 Purdue on Wednesday, Sean Obi accomplished an absurd feat: fouling out in just seven minutes of game time. That’s one foul for every minute and 24 seconds. It’s the fastest any Terp has ever fouled out during the Mark Turgeon era.
To be honest, I’m still baffled at how this happened. Here’s a look at the five calls that went against Obi during his 420-odd seconds on the court.
FOUL 1
Yikes. Obi has the clear mismatch on a smaller defender following a screen. The Boilermakers’ seven-footer Isaac Hass was on the bench, and their other seven-footer Matt Haarms was caught on the perimeter, but Obi was way too physical on the inside. The Duke transfer tried to post up and was unable to correctly gain positioning.
FOUL 2
Not much better. Obi looks like he has the correct positioning between his man and the basket. All he needs to do is body his man during the box out. However, this is much easier said than done against Haas, who is a 7-foot-2, 290-pound behemoth at center. I would give Obi a pass, but in case you didn’t notice, less than a minute had passed since foul one.
FOUL 3
Foul three elicited a strong reaction, because Obi shouldn’t have had this one called against him. Haas initiated the contact and was bullying Obi to get to the spot he wanted. Even the Big Ten Network announcer agreed that this was a tough call, but Obi’s physicality came to bite him yet again. This call at the end of the first half proved to be costly in his limited time in the second.
Here’s another view:
FOUL 4
This is an easily avoidable foul for Obi on the screen. Haarms barely sets a screen and darts toward the hoop. Obi tries to trap Dakota Mathias, but there’s a clear speed mismatch, and Obi is late to get to the spot yet again.
The only place where Obi’s lack of speed/physicality combination really works well is underneath the hoop. Seeing Obi out on the perimeter causes a groan from Terps fans in unison everywhere. It’s an easy call for the referees, and Mark Turgeon now has to manage his big men with extra care for the remaining 16 minutes. Shoutout to Obi’s reaction.
FOUL 5
The controversial — and final — foul call. It was surprising and refreshing to see Obi attempt a charge, and in this case he actually beat his man to the spot. Nojel Eastern came driving in like a bull in a China shop, and Obi used that Duke degree and set up for the charge. The BTN broadcasters again acknowledged that the referees should have called the offensive foul. But this is a call that usually favors the home team over the road team.
Here’s one more look:
At least this could’ve been worse. This season, 26 players across college basketball have fouled out in six minutes or fewer. The leader is Oklahoma’s Matt Freeman, who committed five fouls in just two minutes against Kansas on Jan. 23. Freeman’s feat actually helped his team, though, as the Jayhawks’ Udoka Azubuike missed five straight free throws to let the Sooners come back and win.
With Ivan Bender sidelined for the year and Michal Cekovsky and Bruno Fernando each battling injuries of their own, Maryland will likely continue to rely on Obi’s presence in the paint. If he keeps committing fouls this often, the Terps’ thin frontcourt will get even thinner.