Auburn’s cinderella run has come to an end. After making their first final four appearance ever, the Tigers fell to Virginia in a game that, unfortunately, will be remembered for a “bad call.” But, was it that egregious?
The Game Itself
I’m not going to dwell on the game itself, because that’s not why you’re here. Auburn held a 3 point lead going into the half, holding the Cavaliers to 28. In the second half, Virginia came back, scoring 35 points, and holding Auburn to 31. With seven seconds left, Auburn’s Jared Harper was fouled and hit his first free throw. After missing his second, Virginia got the rebound, and drove up the court. After a borderline double dribble no-call in which the ball bounced off of Ty Jerome’s foot, Auburn fouled him with 1.5 seconds left in the game. The resulting Virginia inbound is where the madness started.
The Foul
With 1.5 seconds, Ty Jerome found Kyle Guy on the inbound, who went up for a corner three. Auburn’s Samir Doughty closed in, and made contact, and a foul was called. Guy made all of his free throws, and sent Auburn home. People are very mad at this, pointing out the missed double dribble call, or you can’t call a foul in “that situation.” Did the official make the right call?
My Thoughts
Yes. This should have been called 100% of the time. While you don’t want any official to impact a game winning play, if it was not called, then that would have impacted the game in Auburn’s favor. In regards to the missed double dribble, yes they missed that call. At the same time, if a foul occurs and you see it, you call it. The missed call impacted the game, which is awful. At the same time, it doesn’t mean a subsequent foul should be ignored for a “make up” call. The contact Doughty made impacted Guy’s shot, and makes it a foul. But what do I know, let me know what you think.
