You could not a better NCAA men's basketball game, except for the North Carolina State win for Jim Valvano, except for one thing.
It was an intense game, exciting and nail biting. The game was undecided until the final buzzer. You had a true Cinderella story and I am sure the sportsbook in Vegas made a lot of money because Butler beat the spread.
The only complaint was the officiating. The ref's were inconsistent. They would let the players play and it was rough but then they would call ticky tack fouls as well. They also missed an offensive goal tending call on Duke towards the end of the game. Duke inbounded the ball with 1 second on the shot clock and the center made a quick jump hook that missed, but the ball was still on the rim when it was tapped into the basket.
They also missed it when the Butler player was thrown down trying to rebound a Duke miss with a few seconds left on the clock. But the ref's also missed calls that benefited Butler. The zebra's essentially took the Duke and Butler big men out of the game because of foul trouble.
I used to be a referee and an umpire, so I look closely at the officiating and if is the best the NCAA has, then the NCAA is in a world of hurt.
While the ref's didn't directly effect the outcome of the game, they certainly made their presence felt, which is not supposed to happen.
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