Kentucky fans may have been right when they wondered on a foul in the final seconds of Tuesday's loss to Arkansas. (SEC Photo)
With Tuesday’s 81-80 loss to Arkansas, Kentucky dropped to an unbelievable record of 5-13. There is really no need to recap the game because, like so many others this season, it came down to individual UK players making poor decisions with the game on the line. But one issue did intrigue me concerning the ending of the game. It was the personal foul called on Jacob Toppin with about 4 seconds to go in the game. That foul, with UK leading 80-79, gave Arkansas an opportunity to score with the clock stopped.
Of course, Arkansas’s Jalen Tate knocked down both free throws to give the Razorbacks the 81-80 victory. UK proceeded to blow any chance they had at a last-second game-winning shot by turning the ball over at midcourt and Arkansas walked away with the victory.
But back to that foul call with four seconds to go in the game. Was it a legitimate foul? UK’s Brandon Boston said no. “I think it wasn’t a foul,” he said when asked if the go-ahead free throws by Tate were warranted. “I think the refs gave them that game. That’s all I can say.”
Seems like Boston has a pretty strong opinion on that play. But what about his coach, John Calipari?
“There were things that happened. I gotta go back and look at the last call. I mean, was it a jump ball? Was there body contact? Was there something?” Calipari said. “Because this game was physical. To give them two free throws to win the game, I don’t know. We’ll see it when I watch the tape.”
So he wasn’t as convinced as Boston but of course, both would be biased in Kentucky’s favor.
What about a neutral observer? Say maybe the former coordinator of NCAA officials, John Adams. He said this on Twitter Tuesday night about how the game ended:
“That was a tough one for BBN to swallow. Officiating is hard. This whole season sucks in so many ways but as officials, we have to end the game correctly,” meaning the calls at the end were not acceptable.
He went on to say via Twitter “if officiating is part of the story, we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.”
And then ended the conversation with this: “Pains me to be critical of guys I really like but we have to be better,” — meaning the referees in the UK- Arkansas game did not do an adequate job at the end of the game.
After that the Twitter conversation turned to the perceived lack of accountability for game officials, Adams said he would have no problem with the head of the officiating crew answering “a few” questions asked by a pool reporter after the game, similar to what is done during the NCAA Tournament.
Adams went on to say that he believed the SEC was a progressive conference when it comes to officiating and would be a good one to start a program like that.
It seems that even though the Wildcats had a chance to win the game with four seconds left and Arkansas nursing a one-point lead, and consequently blew it on a turnover, maybe they should not have been in that position to begin with.
At least not if you believe the opinion of the former head of basketball officiating for the NCAA concerning that last foul call.
— Keith Peel, Contributing Writer
