Following an ejection in an 80-76 overtime loss to Michigan on Sunday, Northwestern coach Chris Collins had some choice words about Wolverines big man Vlad Goldin.

In short, he thinks there was a bit of a sales job on the foul that caused Jalen Leach to be ejected.

“I’ll give him credit. If he doesn’t make the NBA, he’ll have an incredible acting career,” Chris Collins said, according to Matthew Shelton of WildcatReport.com. “I mean that as a compliment, too.”

Leach was leading all scorers with 19 points when he was ejected with 9:23 left in the second half after colliding with Goldin on a set screen, at which point Leach appeared to extend his right leg between Goldin’s, making contact with his groin.

Goldin momentarily doubled over in pain and officials began a review of the contact.

Chris Collins had as much to say about the way the game is officiated as anything else, particularly in this instance. He’s no fan of the rule as written when it comes to shots to the groin.

“Look, if it’s malicious, and a kid is going for that area with a knee or fist, then absolutely,” Chris Collins said. “But I think the people that make the rules [don’t realize] Vlad Goldin is 7-foot-1, 275 pounds, setting a moving screen and Jalen is trying to get over.”

As for the call itself, even Big Ten head of officials Terry Wymer felt compelled to comment on it.

Wymer explained the ruling to the Big Ten Network’s Andy Katz as a cut-and-dry decision, regardless of whether there was any intent from Leach’s part.

“By rule, if a player gets hit in the private area it’s an automatic F2 and ejection for the opponent who hit the player,” Wymer told Katz. “You can’t officiate intent.”

In any case, Chris Collins wasn’t very happy with the outcome.

The 7-foot-1, 250-pound Goldin went on to finish with 31 points — his second 30-point game this season — on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds in the game.

It was the No. 20 Wolverines’ ninth-straight home victory as Michigan improved to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Northwestern lost for the fourth time in its last five games to drop to 11-7 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.

On3’s Alex Byington also contributed to this report.

Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Theryn Hallock scored 15 of her career-best 26 points in the fourth quarter as the No. 22 Michigan State women rolled to an 86-68 win over Illinois on Sunday.

The junior from Grand Rapids topped her previous best of 24 set New Year’s Day against Purdue by knocking down a career-high 12 of 19 from the field. She converted six layups and knocked down a 3-pointer in the final quarter as the Spartans closed the game on a 24-15 run.

Michigan State (15-3, 5-2 Big 10) held a nine-point lead at intermission and that lead remained to start the fourth quarter, 62-53. Illinois scored its first seven points of the fourth quarter at the free throw line and did not score a field goal until Kendall Bostic’s layup with 6:03 remaining.

The Spartans scored 52 points in the paint, scored 26 points off of 22 Illinois turnovers and converted 22 of 30 layups.

Grace VanSlooten converted 9 of 14 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with 24 points for the Spartans, who were a collective 34 of 66 from floor, including 5 of 14 from beyond the arc.

Bostic finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Illinois (13-5, 3-4). Adalia McKenzie finished with 15 points and Jasmine Brown-Hagger contributed 12 points and four assists.

Michigan State returns home to play host to Penn State Wednesday. Illinois plays at Northwestern Thursday.

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Coming off a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory on Friday night, the Michigan hockey team had a chance to go for a sweep on Saturday night in its weekend series against Michigan State. Not only would a win mean sweeping a Big Ten opponent and in-state rival, but it would have been a huge momentum builder to do so against the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

However, the Wolverines were unable to get the job done, dropping Saturday’s game 4-1.

Michigan was riding high off its overtime win, and with Michigan State drawing a penalty a little more than a minute into the game, the Wolverines were offered a very early power play. The Spartans, though, were able to avoid going in an early hole and killed the penalty with ease. Michigan returned the favor shortly thereafter, as Mark Estapa was called for tripping to put Michigan State on the power play.

Michigan State’s power play unit came out strong. Just eight seconds into the man advantage, Matt Basgall found the back of the net to put the Spartans up 1-0. Michigan State would stay on the attack for the remainder of the period while holding Michigan to just five shots on goal in the opening frame. Michigan State’s Charlie Stramel tacked on another goal in the period’s final minutes to go up 2-0.

The second period opened up similar to the first. Michigan State was given another power play chance just four minutes into the period due to a William Whitelaw interference. Again, it was Michigan State’s power play unit going to work, as Shane Vansaghi scored to put Michigan State ahead 3-0.

Looking to get on the scoreboard itself, Michigan was given a power play chance at the 6:26 mark of the period thanks to an MSU hit from behind. Nothing was going the way of the Wolverines in this one, though, as Stramel scored a shorthanded goal to put the Spartans up 4-0.

Despite 19 shots on goal in the second period, Michigan entered the third scoreless. Michigan State’s defense was able to hold until the final minutes of the game, when T.J. Hughes was able to net a power play goal to make it 4-1. But it would be much too little, too late.

The Wolverines put themselves behind the eight-ball in this one, as they were sent to the box eight times, with Michigan State converting two power play goals. Michigan can’t afford to be so undisciplined, especially against a high-caliber opponent like Michigan State that will make the most of its chances.

With the loss, Michigan falls to 14-9-1 overall and 8-6-0 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines will look to rectify things next weekend, as they travel to Wisconsin for two games. This will be the second series Michigan and Wisconsin have played against each other this year, as the teams split a series at Yost in December.