Tennessee fans taking over stadiums on campus at Vanderbilt University when the Volunteers are in town is nothing new. Whether it’s on the gridiron or the hardwood, Vol fans are always in attendance in huge numbers.
However, the sea of orange inside Memorial Gymnasium made themselves heard in a way that you rarely witness during the Volunteers’ clash with the Commodores on Saturday evening.
Trailing Vanderbilt 31-26, Vandy guard Ezra Manjon drove the ball to the basket but was rejected by Josiah-Jordan James. A whistle was blown and a foul was called on Zakai Ziegler, who appeared to avoid contact with Manjon, or at worst make very negligible contact. The play was also reviewed for goaltending, even though James clearly blocked the ball well before it reached the backboard.
Despite blowing the call, the officials added insult to injury by calling a technical foul on Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who was understandably irate.
With the seemingly one-sided series of events, the multitude of fans in attendance belted out a chant of “refs you suck”, which could be heard loudly on the broadcast.