Damian Lillard SLAMS referees after Iowa beats West Virginia in March Madness… fueling conspiracy theories as fans accuse NCAA of rigging game to ensure star Caitlin Clark stays in

Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes advance to the Sweet 16. But many people on social media believe the referees in their game against West Virginia did not call the game fairly.

In a physical game that ended with a 64-54 win for the Hawkeyes, people were shocked by the difference between the fouls and free throws between the two teams.

West Virginia had two players foul and four players foul four while only conceding five foul shots. Meanwhile, Iowa had no players close to fouling and sank 25 of 30 foul shots.

Not only is that a 30-5 free throw discrepancy, the Hawkeyes were only called for 11 fouls while the Mountaineers were called for 27 fouls throughout the game.

Several people expressed their displeasure on Twitter, including Milwaukee Bucks star guard Damian Lillard.

Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard criticized the quality of the referees in the game

JJ Quinerly was one of two WVU players to foul while her team made 25 fewer free throws

“I feel like the West Virginia women’s team is being treated poorly by these referees,” the Bucks guard tweeted Monday night.

People in his replies and quoted tweets seemed to reinforce a conspiracy theory (which has no evidence) that the NCAA rigged this game to get a re-match of last year’s Iowa-LSU title game in the Elite Eight.

“NCAA will not allow their star player/moneymaker to be eliminated this early,” read a reply to Lillard’s tweet.

‘HMMMM!! It’s all about the money!!,” wrote another.

Elsewhere, there were many reports about the quality of the referees, with many saying West Virginia was robbed by the referees.

Posts on social media criticized the referees, with some promoting conspiracy theories

One journalist who watched the match had no conspiracy theory, but still criticized the referees when he wrote: ‘This is absurd. Absolutely annoying. I feel for the West Virginia team. They played a better game than Iowa and they won’t be rewarded at all. I hope these referees don’t get any further.

“These no-calls in Iowa are insane,” another user wrote. “West Virginia is not getting any help from the referees. They probably should have won.”

Another message read: “The refs keep Caitlin Clark and Iowa from getting upset. Ridiculously clear. West Virginia deserves this win.”

Heading to West Virginia, another user said. “These refs need to be investigated, dawg. I’m doing everything I can to deceive Iowa.”

Another said, “West Virginia, you tried your best, you just didn’t have enough to take on both the refs and Iowa.”

This isn’t the only time in recent days that referees in the women’s tournament have been criticized for lopsided foul calls. In fact, LSU was on the favorable side of the whistle in their narrow victory on Sunday.

While the Tigers eventually bounced back and won in dominant style, that was partly due to the fact that they only committed 16 errors, while Middle Tennessee State was called for 31.

LSU also shot 37 free throws, while MTSU took just 9.