Arizona snatches defeat from jaws of OT
Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 10:30 AM
Filed Under:
Rants, Pac-10
Tuesday night’s main events went pretty much according to plan. North Carolina outran Kentucky. Stephen Curry scored a bunch, but Davidson lost to Oklahoma. And Kansas raised its championship banner.
Lost among the shuffle – and that late starting time – was a ridiculous finish between Arizona and UAB. Well, ridiculous is being nice. Stupid, maybe? Pick your favorite synonym because it applies. The House that Lute built is slowly crumbling.
The quick synopsis is this: A free-throw with .8 seconds remaining gave UAB a 72-71 win in the quarterfinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off. But that omits all the boneheaded details leading up to the end.
With about 30 seconds remaining, Arizona’s Kyle Fogg tied the game at 71-71. On the in-bounds, Fogg fouls UAB’s Aaron Johnson instead of simply playing defense. It almost worked out, because Johnson missed the one-and-one. Arizona calls timeout, sets up a play for Nic Wise, who misses with about three seconds left. UAB’s Paul Delany grabs the rebound and races to the other end to try for a game-winner.
I’ll let College Hoops Journal take it from here:
That’s when Jamelle Horne completely forgets how to play the game of basketball, ignores the fact that the game is tied at 71 and lunges for Delaney III, causing the refs to call an intention foul on Horne, giving UAB two shots and the ball.
It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Horne was completley unaware of the situation DESPITE THE FACT FOGG HAD MADE THE SAME DUMB ERROR ON THE PREVIOUS POSSESSION.
After all, we’re all thinking the same thing, right? Why did Horne just foul? Well?
“I saw the guy with the ball going 94 feet and the last thing I wanted to do was give him an uncontested shot,” Horne told the Arizona Star. “And I saw him in front of me so I tried to foul him and the ref called what. … I don’t know what he called it.”
Interim Arizona coach Russ Pennell also couldn’t believe it, telling the Star: “I think [Horne] thought that Delaney could get all the way to the rim. And he was caught between a rock and a hard place. And instead of just letting him go he made a poor decision and he’s broken up about it.”
To be clear, an Arizona player (Fogg) already committed one foolish foul. Did the coaching staff not make it clear to players during the timeout that fouls were not necessary?
It’s tough to not feel bad for Horne, who clearly just lost his cool and made a mistake. We’ve all been there. But man, that was just … bad. No way around it.
It’s just piling on what was already going to be a tough season in Arizona. Good luck, Wildcats fans.
