BYU women's basketball coach Jeff Judkins was reprimanded Wednesday by the Mountain West Conference for comments he made after the Cougars lost to Utah in the conference tournament championship game.
Judkins was angry after Utah's 84-60 victory on March 11 and questioned why the Utes still had their starters in late in the game with a huge lead.
The MWC waited until after the NCAA tournament to announce its reprimand of Judkins.
"Public criticism of another member institution is not acceptable within the structure of the Mountain West Conference and is not in the best interest of the MWC or its member institutions," league commissioner Craig Thompson said in a release.
According to a postgame report in the Deseret Morning News, Judkins "was seen animatedly talking to his team after the final buzzer," telling his players to remember the lopsided outcome. He then criticized Utah in the postgame press conference.
"And then I told (the team), remember the classy way that we handled it and the unclassy way Utah handled it," Judkins said. "They did it the whole year . . . "
"When you're up 25 points, you pull your starters out (before there is) 1:54 in the game — it's a classy way. You don't need to rub it in . . . "
Added Judkins: "I've watched them play the whole season. They're beating Colorado State by 35, and they (the starters) are in until one minute left in the game. It's a combination of a lot of things."
"I probably shouldn't have lost my cool, but you know, I have a right to get mad once in a while."
BYU won the Mountain West regular-season title and finished 26-6, losing to Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After winning the conference tournament, Utah came within a game of going to the Final Four, losing to eventual national champion Maryland in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
Judkins could not be reached for comment.