Seton Hall had their chances taken away from them by a horrendous call
Seton Hall had a chance in the closing moments to defeat 8-seed Arkansas. They had just turned the ball over and were down a point with the shot clock off. As a result they needed to foul as soon as possible to reserve time. The score wasn’t too large which meant Seton Hall would have had a chance to at least tie the game after Arkansas shot free throws. Unfortunately, that chance for them was robbed away.
As Arkansas dribbled up court Seton Hall attempted to trap them, but they were unsuccessful. To prevent more time being wasted Seton Hall fouled the ball handler from behind. Arkansas’s ball handler took a bad fall and hit the ground a little hard. This prompted a review where the refs decided a flagrant 1 foul had to be assessed. This not only gave Arkansas free throws, but retention of the ball.
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Arkansas went on to win the game and Seton Hall was forced to go from playing for the tie to hoping Arkansas missed free throws. Nobody was happy except Arkansas. Seton Hall was robbed of a chance to tie and fans didn’t get the exciting finish they wanted. The worst part? The likelihood of this being a correct call is slim at best. There’s an argument to be made, but that’s going to fall on deaf ears. The refs likely believed that he shoved the ball handler to commit his foul, and the video does make it look like there’s a slight push, but that’s how it looks in slow motion. If he had merely stumbled then nobody would have thought anything of it, but because he fell down awkwardly the refs felt the need to look at the tape.
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It’s a horrendous call that never should have been made. This wasn’t excessive contact, or someone trying to get in a cheap shove. He was trying to take an intentional foul to stop the clock and he fell down. Too often does someone falling down cause refs to upgrade common fouls to unnecessary flagrants and this time it might have cost Seton Hall the game.