Kansas leads SIU, 27-24 at halftime. The Salukis may be three points behind, but that’s a Southern Illinois type score. (In the most recent edition of the ESPNU College Basketball Insider Podcast, Andy Glockner said, “I don’t know that Southern Illinois can make this a 60-55 game,” and Jay Bilas agreed: “They’ve only allowed one team all year long, and that was Western Kentucky, to score 70 or more. I think Kansas will be the second, and I think up at that level, Kansas will have a better opportunity to win than will Southern Illinois.” Well, so far, the Salukis are proving Glockner and Bilas wrong. Keep it up, guys!)
Meanwhile, by the six-minute mark of the first half in the Texas A&M-Memphis game, both teams had scored more points than either team in the Kansas-SIU game at the half. That one is currently tied at 35.
UPDATE: The Salukis opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 33-27 lead. Woohoo!
A win by Southern Illinois would actually eliminate me from any chance of winning my pool. But I don’t care! Go SIU!
UPDATE 2: Kansas 58, Southern Illinois 56 with 1:08 left. GO SALUKIS!!!
UPDATE 3: DAMMIT!! Southern Illinois falls just short, 61-58.
The Jayhawks got just enough breaks to scratch and claw their way past a team that clearly outplayed them. I’m not blaming the refs or saying Kansas doesn’t deserve the victory — just that they are very, very lucky to escape with a win. And that anyone who doubts whether Southern Illinois deserves respect is officially an idiot.
And, damn, if only Tatum had gotten that point-blank, uncontested putback after the missed layup.
I give Kansas credit for one thing… the Jayhawks had a bunch of steals (8, I think?), several of which were very pretty — and without those, they definitely lose.
Just a frustrating ending… so many “woulda, coulda, shouldas.” The Salukis were so close to the Elite Eight. Argh.
Well, on the bright side, at least I’m still mathematically alive in my pool. :)
Meanwhile, it’s Memphis 63, Texas A&M 63 with 3:00 left. Acie Law IV is doing his thing. Go Aggies!! My bracket is on the line here!
UPDATE 4: What happened to this game? It was so much higher-scoring than the SIU-Kansas game, and now suddenly, it’s not. A&M leads 64-63 with 54.1 seconds left, and it’s Aggies ball.
UPDATE 5: ACIE LAW MISSED A CLUTCH LAYUP?!?! WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!
UPDATE 6: REBOUND?? Can you get a freaking REBOUND, Aggies?!? AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!
UPDATE 7: Memphis by 1 with 3.1 seconds left, A&M ball. It’s Acie Law IV time!! A chance for redemption! One shining moment! Do it!! C’MON AGGIES!!!
My whole theory in picking A&M to win the national championship was that, in close games, in situations like this, Acie Law IV, Captain Clutch, would carry them to victory, Christian Laettner-style. That theory is about to be put to the ultimately test.
UPDATE 8: WTF?
WTF?
WTF?
That was the most retarded anti-climax ever.
1.1 seconds?!?!?
And what kind of a shot was that???
And where was Acie Law IV????
Good defense by Memphis… and the refs.
That sucked. A lot.
Well, congrats to Jay and Memphis. And farewell to my pool chances.
[More after the jump on the “1.1 seconds” controversy, about which I strike a more conciliatory tone upon reflection. -ed.]
P.S. I actually think I understand how you might be able to justify saying 1.1 seconds ran off the clock, if you say the ball initially landed in bounds, then flew way up in the air, and you don’t stop the clock until it landed out of bounds.
BUT…
…the whistle clearly blew the moment the ball hit the ground the first time. Maybe it blew erroneously, but it still blew, and once the whistle blows, the play is dead. You can’t say 0.9 seconds ran off the clock after the whistle blew!!! That’s completely wrong. I mean, who knows, if the whistle hadn’t blown, a player might have tried to dive after the ball. It might be unlikely, but you can’t definitively say it wouldn’t have happened, which is the whole reason that, by rule, when the whistle blows, the play is dead!! Texas A&M was unequivocally, unquestionably, unjustifiably, unconscionably ROBBED of between 0.9 and 1.1 seconds on their final play, on the basis of a faulty replay decision… despite the fact that the refs took like 90 seconds to decide it! It’s like Oregon-Oklahoma all over again! Granted, the Aggies might not have scored anyway, but they absolutely should have had the chance to take the ball with 2.9 or 3.0 left instead of 2.0. Cripes. What a bunch of bullcrap.
That said: the reason A&M lost, really, is because Acie Law IV missed that layup. So, my theory is officially down the toilet. Along with my bracket.
Again, congrats to Memphis on the win… it’s not the Tigers’ fault the refs f***ed up the clock and denied Texas A&M a fair chance on the last play.
P.P.S. In comments, Dan Port points out that “the refs f-cked up the whistle blow- giving A&M MORE time for their last possession than if they had [correctly] blown it when it landed out of bounds. Either way, the refs suck.” That’s true.
My initial response was:
I guess I can forgive that error because it was so close to the line that the naked eye could easily have mistaken it for going out of bounds… I guess I consider that a ‘part of the game’ sort of error, where you write it off to the fact that the refs are human, and the human eye can’t make such incredibly fine distinctions in real time. I’m much less forgiving when the error happens on a replay.
I stand by that sentiment. However, that said, Dan is right, the Aggies actually would have been the beneficiaries of a referee-enabled “lucky break” if they’d gotten the ball with 2.9 or whatever… so perhaps my language above is a bit overheated. :) Paradoxically, either call would have been wrong; somebody was going to get screwed. It wouldn’t have been fair if the call had gone the other way, either.
I still think it sucks that the game ended on a bad call — in either direction — but my fulminating at the refs above is, I suppose, more a product of frustration than anything else. It sucks to watch the teams you’re rooting for blow two winnable games in rapid succession.
A&M lost not because of the refs, but because Captain Clutch couldn’t hit a G**damn layup, and the whole team couldn’t get a G**damn rebound. And now my chances to win $280 in the law-school pool, as well as a t-shirt in my own pool, are G**damn gone. ;)
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Categories: NCAA Basketball & Pools
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March 22nd, 2007 at 8:55:24 pm
Argh. Tie game, but it should be SIU by 4, if not for a free after-the-shot-clock dunk that was gifted to Kansas in the first half, and two points that were apparently unjustly denied to SIU earlier in the second half. (I missed the play, but caught Jay Bilas saying it should have been 2 for the Salukis… goaltend maybe?)
I hate to bitch about the refs, but in a game this low-scoring (45-45 with 6:41 left), four points are HUGE.
C’mon Salukis!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:58:16 pm
shoulda woulda coulda
Go Jayhawks!
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:59:02 pm
And now a shot-clock violation is called on SIU when it shouldn’t have been!! ARGH!!!
Maybe karma will balance out, and they’ll get some breaks down the stretch.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:09:03 pm
It’s kinda funny that SIU-Kansas and Memphis-A&M have almost the same score, yet there’s 9:37 left in the latter and 2:00 left in the former. Heh.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:11:09 pm
F**k. Not looking good for Southern Illinois here. It’s not over, but they need to hit some shots! That missed layup was HUGE.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:11:42 pm
YES!!! TATUM FOR 3!!! WOO!!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:21:03 pm
Are you a pothead, Falker?
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:50:21 pm
they took off 1.1?!??!?!
F THAT.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:53:06 pm
With the play that A&M ran, and the shot they took..the extra .9 sec.s wouldn’t have mattered…
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:53:13 pm
That was a helluva basketball game, and I’m very happy the Tigers managed to survive it.
I know there will be a lot of questions about the refs and the runoff of time on the inbounds play, but, in all honesty, and number they run off there is a complete guess. Maybe they were timing it on a view they thought was real time and wasn’t, or maybe that’s just the number they came up with for lack of anything better.
Phew. It was a dandy, and my Tigers are back to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. Let’s see if the Vols can join them in the second half of the night’s action.
Of course, I’m probably going to have to find out about in in the morning.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:53:51 pm
1.1 seconds?!?!?
Clock starts when Memphis player touches ball. Ball bounces in bounds, and clock doesnt stop until ball hits first row of stands. It was a good call - in fact A&M got a break…and I picked the Aggies in the pool.
The announcers are clueless on this one.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:54:38 pm
Oh yeah, and BTW, Brendan, remember griping about Gonzaga calling a last second timeout that let Memphis get it’s D set up earlier this year? Look familiar?
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:56:07 pm
Ball is inbounded, defender deflects it, it hits the floor INBOUNDS, bounces in the air, lands out of bounds. From the time the ball hits the defenders hand until it LANDS out of bounds is when the clock should run. It was more than two seconds. They took off 1.1 seconds. Texas A&M has nothing to complain about.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:59:43 pm
Ok, read your explanation and agree- but then the refs f-cked up the whistle blow- giving A&M MORE time for their last possession than if they had blown it when it landed out of bounds. Either way, the refs suck. Not as much as Duke, but you know.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:02:01 pm
To LaundraMatt and Dan, I repeat what I said in the post… THE WHISTLE BLEW long before 1.1 seconds, so I don’t know how you can possibly justify the decision the refs made. That’s like looking at the replay and giving a team a timeout when they called it, instead of when the ref put his hand up (which is always a few tenths of a second later). I realize the refs probably couldn’t hear the whistle while doing the replay review, which is probably why they made the wrong call… but it was still unequivocally the wrong call.
Gahrie, if they had 2.9 or 3.0 seconds, they might have run a better play! I mean, that’s a HUGE difference, you’re talking about have 150% the amount of time, so the inbounder’s whole mentality is different, the defense is different, the offense is different… everything is different. But you’re right, the “play” they ran was awful, particularly the shooter’s godawful decision to heave up a prayer with 0.8 left instead of dribbling again and getting 10 feet closer. I hate it when college kids have no clock awareness. Drives me absolutely freakin’ nuts.
I want to be clear about this, I’m not saying Memphis won because of the refs… Memphis probably wins anyway. I’m just saying A&M was robbed of a fair chance on that last play. And of course you’re right, they were lucky Memphis even touched it on that inbounds play — they “caught a break” in being in that situation to begin with. But again, the fact remains, the call was wrong. And that’s annoying.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:04:28 pm
but then the refs f-cked up the whistle blow
Good point, I suppose that’s true, but I guess I can forgive that error because it was so close to the line that the naked eye could easily have mistaken it for going out of bounds… I guess I consider that a “part of the game” sort of error, where you write it off to the fact that the refs are human, and the human eye can’t make such incredibly fine distinctions in real time. I’m much less forgiving when the error happens on a replay.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:07:33 pm
Oh yeah, and BTW, Brendan, remember griping about Gonzaga calling a last second timeout that let Memphis get it’s D set up earlier this year? Look familiar?
Yeah.
Same thing happened in the SIU-Kansas game, actually. Southern Illinois called timeout — its LAST timeout — to set up a play, down by 3 with like 20 seconds left. Admittedly, the Salukis got a good shot and just missed it (and then got the rebound before throwing it away), but if they hadn’t used that timeout, you have to believe that veteran team could still have gotten a good shot… and then they would have had a timeout remaining after rebounding Kansas’s missed free throws with 2.0 seconds left, so they could have set up a Valparaiso-like play instead of having to do a desperation heave. (Admittedly, the Salukis did a MUCH better job than the Aggies in the “desperation heave” department… they actually showed a modicum of clock awareness, which is always nice.)
Argh. What a frustrating end for me personally to two really good games.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:23:05 pm
Dang it. Just got back to see my bracket is pretty much done now. (As if it wasn’t before, but when your Final Four is still in it, you feel you’ve got a shot). Looks like a good game for A&M, and as for Memphis - well, congrats on getting to the Elite Eight - I didn’t give them much of a shot, really, so I’m impressed.
Now, Brendan, time for our rooting interests to again intersect - go Pitt! Beat UCLA! (I normally root FOR UCLA because they have Pitt’s old coach, and Howland is a good one, but my rooting for UCLA is typically to see THIS MATCHUP. So now that it’s happened, go Panthers!)
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:25:23 pm
The tragic thing is after whistling too early on the play (in real time) they, I think, try to compensate during the replay. As they say, two wrongs don’t make a right.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:34:44 pm
G**damnit.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:09:30 pm
Well, here is how I saw the clock issue…
I agree that they must have ruled that the ball didn’t ‘officially’ go out of bounds until it hit up near the press row. And I agree that the official clearly blew the whistle before then…the official was pointing before then.
The thing I noticed was that they didn’t tell the coaches how much time was left until they were breaking the huddle so I don’t know that the plan they ran was set-up to be run in the reduced time. Law was a decoy and Memphis didn’t bite at all. Hunt dropped off his man to double team Sloan or whomever it was that took the inbounds.
The thing is, if you’re A&M you’ve got to take a bigger chance on the inbounds or you’re bound to leave yourself with a near halfcourt prayer.
Regarding the SIU game, there were three calls that went against them that were flat wrong.
1) Shot clock violation that wasn’t called on KU (EASILY the worst of the 3). One of the 3 worst calls I’ve seen the entire tournament (the other two being the charge call on DJ Strawberry against Butler and a foul on Illinois’ Warren Carter in the final minute against Va Tech). This one and the Carter were really not even up for debate it was just awful.
2) SIU’s Jamal Tatum was going up for a shot in the lane and a KU player grabbed the rim as the shot hit the backboard. No goaltend. A foul was called and Tatum made both free throws…so it cost them a pont.
3) Shot clock winding down and SIU’s Bryan Mullins put up a desperation 3 that appeared to be an air ball to the naked eye. SIU got the rebound but the clock went off before a shot could be taken. Replays were fairly conclusive that the ball grazed the rim.
The calls are pretty much in order from worst to least egregious. I can honestly see how #3 was missed. Number 1 was simply awful and number 2 somewhere in between.
All around a game effort from SIU. I’m very much hoping UCLA can finish Pitt off tonight and take out Kansas on Sat. night. This result does give me some hope that KU is beatable and it won’t be a huge upset if UCLA does it. It would not have been as sweet as the Saluki’s doing it but I will not complain in the least.
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:14:09 pm
Andrew H, I don’t understand the consternation over the charge call on DJ Strawberry. The defender was set and DJ plowed right into him. How was that a bad call? I didn’t see all of the Illinois game, so I can’t comment on the Carter foul.