Watching Ohio State basketball’s Tanner Holden hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the game against Rutgers on Thursday night was pure jubilation for many Buckeye fans, and nobody can really take that away after the fact.
However, you know the controversy by now and all the chatter and debate that’s occurred online and on social media. Holden seems to have stepped out of bounds and come back in on the sideline to hit the memorable shot, presumably committing a violation that would have erased his game-winner.
Well, now the Big Ten has released a statement and confirmed that the play should have been blown dead, and the three-point dagger erased that sent everyone in scarlet and gray home happy Thursday night.
The Big Ten Conference has reviewed the officiating from The Ohio State University (OSU) and Rutgers University (Rutgers) men’s basketball game on December 9, 2022, at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
During regulation play, an OSU student-athlete passed the ball to a teammate who had drifted out of bounds and returned to the court to complete the game-winning shot. The action of stepping out of bounds and being the first player to touch the ball after returning inbounds consisted a violation of NCAA Rule 9, Section 3, Article 1. The play should have been stopped and the ball ruled dead.
The officiating crew that was on the court is one of the best in the country, but unfortunately missed the call. The Big Ten Conference takes officiating very seriously and has addressed the matter with both the member institutions and the officiating crew. Additionally, the conference will be providing added education and rule reinforcement to our basketball officials.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1601370918672302080?s=20&t=jsUg8ns74a1lS3jPl1hYeQ
So yeah, it appears Ohio State got away with one Thursday night, but we might also point out that a game is 40 minutes long and there are missed calls throughout. In fact, Bruce Thorton was almost ridden out of bounds by the Rutgers defender and that probably should have been called before any of the other theatrics took place.
Regardless, it goes down as a victory for Ohio State and now the Buckeyes have some time off before heading to New York to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the CBS Sports Classic next Saturday.
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