Controversial foul call helps No. 5 NCAA basketball team escape with a win
University of Michigan basketball coach John Beilein believes that when it comes to late-game situations, officials are better seen and not heard.
“I think that every official wants the players to play the game,” Beilein said Tuesday. “He hopes that’s how he officiates. The players determine the game.”
But Beilein doesn’t necessarily believe that was the case in his team’s 70-69 loss to No. 5 Purdue on Tuesday.
He didn’t come out and blame the officials for two controversial calls that went against his team in the final six seconds of the game, but he was more than willing to question their judgment.
“I’ll wait to watch the video,” Beilein said. “I don’t know if those were good calls or not.”
The first play Beilein will want to watch happened with the game tied at 69. Michigan’s Charles Matthews drove to the basket, only to have the ball knocked away by Purdue’s Dakota Mathias. The ball went out of bounds, and officials said it remained Michigan’s ball with 6.2 seconds remaining.
Purdue coach Matt Painter asked the officials for a video review of the call.
“You’re in that moment so you might as well ask, and they’ll go and look for it,” Painter said. “It was guessing. I had no idea. It’s so far away from you at that other end.”
But after a lengthy video review, the officials determined the tipped ball went off Matthews and gave the ball to Purdue.
Shortly after that, Michigan’s Moritz Wagner was called for a foul with 4.8 seconds remaining when he tried to defend a pass to Purdue’s Isaac Haas.
Replay showed Wagner appeared to cleanly deflect the pass away from Haas, but he also had his right arm around the hip of Haas as he tried to maneuver around him.
This is how Purdue-Michigan ended…
Foul or no foul? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/d9o8x65KvQ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 10, 2018
The foul sent Haas to the line, where he made the front end of a bonus but missed the second throw, giving Michigan one final chance at victory.
Matthews dribbled across half-court and fired a 30-footer from the sideline, but the ball bounced off the rim.
Michigan went from thinking it would have the ball under its own basket with six seconds remaining and a chance to win the game, to watching Purdue celebrate a win on the Wolverines’ home court.
“I really was convinced we had a play set up, we were going to win the game,” Beilein said. “And all of a sudden, they win the game.”
Purdue, 16-2 overall, has now won 10 in a row and sits atop the Big Ten conference with a 5-0 record. Michigan is 14-4 overall and is now 3-2 in the conference.
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