UCI’s Mamadou N’Diaye is 7’6. Long Beach State’s Justin Bibbins is 5’8. For some wonderful reason, when these two teams meet, they have agreed to face those two players off in the jump ball:
The surprisingly fair tip-off rivalry between a 7’6 college basketball player and a 5’8 opponent
Mamadou vs. Justin now stands at 1 and 1. #BlackAndBlue underway. pic.twitter.com/O2kviCJTvu
— LBSU Mens Basketball (@LBSUhoops) February 25, 2016
The 7’6 guy gets the ball. Surprise!
But wait, there’s a twist. This was actually an upset, based on previous results. From the OC Register:
Long Beach State sent Bibbins, the point guard generously listed at 5-foot-8, out for the jump ball against the 7-6 Ndiaye.
It wasn’t for comic relief. Bibbins neatly ducked under Ndiaye, grabbed his backward tip and fluidly fed a pass to A.J. Spencer for a basket and quick lead.
Kinda clever! The jump ball is about way more than the tip -- the recovery matters most -- so this is a pretty good strategy if you know what you’re doing.
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