In What Universe Is This A Foul?

rickchand|published: Fri 7th March, 15:45 2008

I am a firm believer that a basketball game cannot be lost on a single bad call. No, it takes many bad calls, as was proven Thursday in UCLA's 77-67 overtime win over Stanford at Pauley. Particularly galling to Cardinal fans was this apparent block by Lawrence Hill on the Bruins' Nick Collison with 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Stanford was up by two at the time, and if the ref does the right thing, the game is over.

A foul, Mr. Official? Seriously? This call is the 2000 Florida election results of college basketball.

Collison, the conference's leading free-throw shooter, said, "We were fortunate to get a foul on that call. I heard it was a makeup. Nah, they hit some tough shots down the stretch, and we were real fortunate to get that call. Regardless of what call it was, the fact is we played hard and showed no quit."

This makes the last four minutes of the Patriots-Ravens game seem completely fair.

Stanford's Title Hopes End In OT At UCLA [San Jose Mercury]