How good was Wisconsin on Tuesday night against Iowa? The final box score finished with more mistakes than the Badgers did.
Wisconsin’s only turnover against Iowa should not have been ruled as one
The Badgers hammered Iowa, but their performance should have looked even better.
Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Wisconsin played pretty much perfect basketball in an 82-50 win over No. 23 Hawkeyes at the Kohl Center. The Badgers scored 1.52 points per possession, which is by far the highest mark in Big Ten conference play this season. Four of the five starters finished in double-figures, as Bo Ryan’s team shot nearly 50 percent from the field (29-of-59) and over 40 percent from the three-point line (9-of-22). Most impressive of all, the box score says the Badgers only finished with one turnover.
Even that isn’t right.
The play happened on Wisconsin's first possession of the second half, already with a 35-17 lead at hand. Sam Dekker took a feed from Frank Kaminsky and fired a three-pointer from the right wing that left his hand with two seconds left on the shot clock. The shot was an airball and the play would eventually be ruled as a turnover.
Here’s the thing: it shouldn’t have been.
According to the rulebook, the play should have been ruled as a field goal attempt and a deadball rebound. From the 2014-15 Official NCAA Basketball Statisticians’ Manual:
A.R. 5. As the shot clock is about to run out, Adams shoots and the ball clearly is in flight before the horn. (a) The shot-clock horn sounds while the ball is in the air and the ball strikes the basket ring or enters the basket. (b) The shot-clock horn sounds while the ball is in the air, the ball fails to hit the ring, and Allen rebounds. The officials call the violation and Team B is awarded the ball for a throwin. (c) The shot-clock horn sounds while the ball is in the air, the ball fails to hit the ring, and Brown rebounds. The officials call the violation and Team B is awarded the ball for a throw-in. (d) The ball fails to hit the ring and the shotclock horn sounds as Brown rebounds. The officials call the violation and Team B is awarded the ball for a throw-in. (e) The ball fails to hit the ring and the shot-clock horn sounds as Brown rebounds. The officials do not call a violation and Team B continues control of the ball. RULING: In all cases, no turnover is charged. In (a), the horn is ignored. Charge Adams with a FGA and, if the shot is good, credit Adams with a FGM. In (b), (c) and (d), charge Adams with a FGA and credit Team B with a dead-ball rebound. In (e), charge Adams with a FGA and credit Brown with a rebound.
The play was originally ruled correctly, but the official scorer went back and changed it to the wrong ruling before the end of the game.
So basically, Wisconsin just beat a ranked team from the Big Ten by 32 points and should have finished the night with zero turnovers. Not bad for a team playing without its starting point guard.
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