Michigan State Holds On Against FGCU After Incredible Clock Operator Blunder [Update]

Michigan State claimed its second win of the year after the 13th-ranked Spartans beat Florida Gulf Coast thanks in part to a clock blunder on the game’s final play that officials decided to let stand.

Antravious Simmons’s buzzer-beater came as the buzzer sounded thanks to the Spartans’ official timekeeper starting the clock upon the initiation of the inbound pass. That interrupted Simmons’s shot attempt, and in fact the official scorer doesn’t even record him as having taken it. Referees consulted after the play and to FGCU coach Joe Dooley’s consternation, upheld the results of the play.

Update (11:00 p.m.): This statement is so full of garbage, I don’t even know where to start. Simmons didn’t even come close to holding the ball for 1.3 seconds, by the way—he had it for 42 frames, or 0.7 seconds. Adding in the tenth that should have been put back on after the blocked inbound pass, he was deprived a full second of clock time to prepare and take his would-be buzzer-beater.

[BTN]