Kentucky and LSU staged a modern day SEC classic at Rupp Arena on Tuesday. The Wildcats entered riding a 10 game winning streak and playing their best basketball of the season. LSU was coming into its own as well, getting off to a 9-1 start in conference and crashing the top 20 of the polls this week.
Did Kentucky basketball get screwed on LSU’s game-winning tip-in?
Wildcats fans won’t be happy about this.
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.
This game was every bit as good as expected, with the Tigers matching shot for shot with the mighty Wildcats until the final seconds. That’s when things got weird. LSU, up two, fouled Kentucky’s Keldon Johnson with six seconds left. Johnson, who was 3-of-7 from the foul line up to that point, calmly sank both to tie the score.
LSU had the ball and one final chance. Junior Skylar Mays drove to the basket and missed a layup, but teammate Kavell Bigby-Williams was there for the tip-in.
Officials reviewed the play and determined Bigby-Williams got the shot off in time. That part was obvious. The bigger question: was the ball still over the cylinder when it was tipped in?
It sure looks like it:
There’s only one problem: this isn’t a reviewable play because the ball was off the rim. It still should have been goaltending because it sure looks like it was over the cylinder.
Update: It appears as if Kentucky should have been called for defensive goaltending as the shot was going up:
A lot of analysts believe Kentucky got screwed on this no-call
Kentucky and LSU should have gone to overtime. Instead, LSU picks up a huge road win because the refs missed a call at the buzzer.
Now, to be fair, it’s so difficult to call a bang-bang play like this as goaltending in the moment, especially without the benefit of review. The problem isn’t so much that the officials made the wrong ruling, it’s that they weren’t allowed to review it in the first place.
This game has real ramifications on the race for the SEC regular season crown. Tennessee, still No. 1 in the polls, leads the conference at 10-0. Kentucky is now 9-1 and LSU is 10-1. These two teams don’t face again unless it happens in the SEC tournament. Here’s hoping it happens.
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