Auburn was on the wrong end of a late-game call that wasn’t made that sent Virginia to the National Championship Game and Auburn home.
Virginia had a little luck behind their first National Championship Game appearance when the officials missed a double-dribble by Ty Jerome late in their game vs. Auburn.
Jerome brought the ball up the court and lost control of the ball when it bounced off his back foot before regaining control of the ball, which ends his dribble.
Virginia maintained possession and it allowed Kyle Guy to drain a three-pointer that brought Virginia within one point of the lead. They later took the lead for good when Guy was fouled with .6 seconds remaining.
CBS rules expert Gene Steratore broke down the call that wasn’t. It’s no consolation for Auburn fans as their season is over. It’s similar to the NFL admitting when they miss a late-game pass interference penalty, such as what happened in the NFC Championship Game last winter between the Saints and Rams.
"“As Ty Jerome brings the ball up the court, Steratore said on the broadcast, he accidentally bumps the ball off his back foot, he then re-possesses this ball with both hands. That ends his dribble.”"
Watch the play for yourself and see how the refs missed a call that could have kept Auburn’s national championship dreams alive. Instead, Bruce Pearl will be living this nightmare all offseason, and perhaps for the rest of his life. He may never get this close again to a national title.
“As Ty Jerome brings the ball up the court, he accidentally bumps the ball off his back foot … he then re-possesses this ball with both hands. That ends his dribble.”@GeneSteratore explains a missed double-dribble violation on Ty Jerome near the end of the game. pic.twitter.com/763pV0sXyA
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 7, 2019
This is a big embarrassment for the NCAA to have a Final Four outcome decided by a late-game missed call by the officials. This might happen in a regular season game in November, but it’s inexcusable to happen on the game’s biggest stage.
Virginia won’t be too upset about it though as they’re in the title game in part because of one giant missed call.