It’s been a pretty wild day in the world of college basketball.
Friday saw two monster upsets in the NCAA Tournament, with No. 13 seed Hawaii taking down No. 4 seed California and No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee shocking No. 2 seed Michigan State. A major upset wasn’t at play in Friday’s South Region matchup between No. 7 Iowa and No. 10 Temple, but the matchup provided us our first major controversy of the tourney.
With the game tied on the final possession in overtime, Hawkeyes guard Mike Gesell missed wide on a fadeaway jumper. But big man Adam Woodbury was in the right place at the right time and tipped the ball in just before the buzzer to lift Iowa to a dramatic 72-70 win.
https://vine.co/v/idMTFwQrwJD
Pretty awesome play, right? It is if you’re a Hawkeyes fan, but another look reveals Woodbury might have gotten away with a push-off before his heroic bucket.
Adam Woodbury wins it for Iowa! pic.twitter.com/Y2Ixcb5boZ
— Sam Cooper (@SamDCooper) March 18, 2016
A few hoops pundits believed the Owls got screwed.
Great win for @TheIowaHawkeyes despite the blatant foul push off by Adam Woodbury on game winner. #MarchMadness
— Wally Szczerbiak (@wallyball) March 18, 2016
Blatant two handed push in the back by Woodbury. That is the baseline ref's job to watch that and not the ball. Horrible.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 18, 2016
Adam Woodbury's bucket to win it was huge, his subtle push-off beneath the rim maybe huger. #NCAATOURNAMENT
— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) March 18, 2016
Of course, their complaints won’t matter much, as Iowa will move on to face No. 2 Villanova this weekend. But do you think the officials got it right?
Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images
