Referees owe Northwestern a mulligan

ESPN:

The NCAA said officials erred Saturday night by not calling basket interference and goaltending on a Gonzaga player late in the top-seeded Bulldogs' 79-73 second-round NCAA tournament victory over No. 8 seed Northwestern in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats had trimmed a 22-point deficit to five and had the ball when Gonzaga 7-footer Zach Collins reached up through the basket to reject Dererk Pardon's shot with 4:54 left in the game. There was no call, and Northwestern coach Chris Collins, jawing with the officials all day, ran onto the court, charged toward the referee and was slapped with a technical foul.

Nigel Williams-Goss made both free throws, and Northwestern -- in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history -- never got closer.

"I mean, it would have been a three-point game," Chris Collins said. "We had all the momentum. The guy puts his hand through the rim. It's a very easy call, in my opinion. But it's an honest mistake. Referees are human beings. They're here for a reason -- because they're outstanding officials. They made the calls. We have to live with them.

Shortly after the game, the NCAA issued a statement saying officials missed the violation under Rule 9, Section 15 of its men's basketball rules book.

"Article 2.a.3 states that basket interference occurs when a player reaches through the basket from below and touches the ball before it enters the cylinder," the NCAA said in the statement. "Replays showed that the Gonzaga defender violated this rule, which should have resulted in a scored basket by Northwestern."

Rule 9, Section 8 - "A Get of Jail Card Free"

There is an easy way to fix the highly questionable calls in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Allow each coach a challenge once per game. No coach would throw his ruby red flag on the court in the first half to protest a possible travel or three second violation. They would protect that piece of nylon with their life.

It took 78 years for Northwestern University to make an appearance in March Madness. We'll see you same time next year.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy