NCAA tournament refs made another bad call at end of Arizona-Wisconsin game

By CHRIS CHASE

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

Dear NCAA tournament referees,

Let ‘em play.

Sincerely,

All of us

For the second straight night, a classic +NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness game swung on the overeager whistle of a referee. With four seconds left in overtime of Saturday’s West regional final and his team trailing by one point, Arizona’s Nick Johnson was called for a charge on Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser. The Wildcats would go on to lose the game, 64-63.

Refs got the end of the +University of Michigan - +Tennessee Vols wrong

Was it a charge? Maybe. Johnson threw his body into Gasser and pushed off with his left forearm. There was certainly enough contact to blow a whistle.

But was it a block first? Maybe. Gasser bodied Johnson as he started his drive. +SPORTS CR3W. That contact is what led to Johnson throwing the forearm.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

When it’s up in the air like that, there’s only one call to make: Not making one at all. What had been a well-officiated and well-played +NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness Tournament has turned into an unfortunate zebra showcase over the past 26 hours. Part of that is because the competition is better, the stakes are higher and there are more eyes on the games. Part of it is officials who think they’re on display. Let the athletes settle it, not the refs. When there’s 10 seconds left in a game and one possession separates the teams, keep the whistle around the neck unless it’s something egregious.

But just like the previous night, one bad call led to another. On the inbound pass after the charge call, both teams slapped for the ball as it went out of bounds. Officials spent almost five minutes looking at the replay. Though the ball was initially awarded to +Wisconsin Badgers, the interminable review eventually gave +Arizona Wildcats the ball with 2.3 seconds left. This appeared to be the right decision, though it was far from conclusive.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

But there was one thing officials missed before the ball was tapped out of bounds. Look how far Arizona’s Aaron Gordon was over the baseline.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

They all even out.

Then again, it could be the NIT officials doing the games and that would be catastrophic, no doubt.

Early Games set for Sweet 16 - Quick Lookback

This is what the original post said but it would be an extremely long stretch to even say that the foul called on Johnson's drive was equivalent to a side out, in bounds pass with 2.3 seconds left to get 50% of as good of look as he had on the drive with 3 seconds left. Johnson's teammate was right there for the rebound if the shot did bounce as it did for essentially the putback winner like the +Texas Longhorns buzzer beater over the +Arizona State Sun Devils in the 2nd round. Not quite even there, especially when you consider the fact that Wisconsin got a favorable 1 and 1 call on a ball that Johnson was trying to tie up, got elbowed in the face and touched the player after the blow. Really not a foul at all and those 2 points were monumental. Called by the same official, we would add.