I changed my flight back to New Orleans from early tomorrow morning to tonight after Tulane got totally hosed by the refs in the final 26 seconds. First, they reversed a goal-tending call that would have given Tulane a one-point lead, and I have not gotten clarification on the rule there. Cisse definitely contacted Brumbaugh's lay-up attempt before it reached the backboard, but his hand was still on the ball when it got pinned on the backboard, and the rule says simultaneous contact with the backboard while the hand is on the ball constitutes goal-tending, but it does not specify whether you have to have taken your hand off the ball before it makes contact with the backboard. If that's OK, the reversal was right, but if it's not, the reversal was wrong.
The next call was even more egregious. After having the ball poked away from him, Brumbaugh had it before Haggerty fell on top of him (after already hitting his arms going for the ball) and inadvertently kicked him in the head as well as he gained control of the ball and called timeout, which was awarded. There was a point of emphasis this year to call a foul in that exact situation, but the referee swallowed his whistle. A foul would have sent Brumbaugh, an 82-percent free throw shooter, to the line for a 1-and-1 with a one-point deficit and 20 seconds left. There's no way to know whether he would have made both free throws or whether Memphis would have scored in response, but what a gutting way to lose. I booked my original flight back to New Orleans for Monday because I knew Tulane had an excellent shot to reach the final, and I believe today's game against UAB would have been 50-50. You can throw out the result from last Sunday when UAB went through the motions in the second half, but the way Tulane is playing right now, it is good as any team in the league and matches up better with the Blazers than with North Texas, whose defense really bothers guys like Kaleb Banks and Kam Williams.
Having said all this, I'm really not into the fan conspiracy theories about the NCAA (or, even stranger, the AAC) not wanting Memphis to lose. It's absurd on every level. The biggest mistake people make is mistaking incompetence for malevolence. Ron Hunter, as he almost always does, handled the controversy with class, and so did Brumbaugh and Asher Woods, the two players Tulane brought to the podium. I also talked with Hunter for a few minutes afterward--some on the record and some off the record.
The key moving forward is retaining as many players as possible in the NIL transfer portal era. My sources say Brumbaugh and Glenn will return, but the two to worry about are Banks and Williams. Recent history says it will be incredibly hard to keep them, but we will see what Tulane's NIL people can do. Their losses would be huge, but keeping Brumbaugh would be massive. In my opinion, he is the best player Hunter has had at Tulane because he's a winner whose work ethic and want-to infects his teammates. He absolutely loves it at Tulane. I never say never, though, because money talks, and if other guys leave, you never know what his thought process would be.
I will post quotes shortly.
The next call was even more egregious. After having the ball poked away from him, Brumbaugh had it before Haggerty fell on top of him (after already hitting his arms going for the ball) and inadvertently kicked him in the head as well as he gained control of the ball and called timeout, which was awarded. There was a point of emphasis this year to call a foul in that exact situation, but the referee swallowed his whistle. A foul would have sent Brumbaugh, an 82-percent free throw shooter, to the line for a 1-and-1 with a one-point deficit and 20 seconds left. There's no way to know whether he would have made both free throws or whether Memphis would have scored in response, but what a gutting way to lose. I booked my original flight back to New Orleans for Monday because I knew Tulane had an excellent shot to reach the final, and I believe today's game against UAB would have been 50-50. You can throw out the result from last Sunday when UAB went through the motions in the second half, but the way Tulane is playing right now, it is good as any team in the league and matches up better with the Blazers than with North Texas, whose defense really bothers guys like Kaleb Banks and Kam Williams.
Having said all this, I'm really not into the fan conspiracy theories about the NCAA (or, even stranger, the AAC) not wanting Memphis to lose. It's absurd on every level. The biggest mistake people make is mistaking incompetence for malevolence. Ron Hunter, as he almost always does, handled the controversy with class, and so did Brumbaugh and Asher Woods, the two players Tulane brought to the podium. I also talked with Hunter for a few minutes afterward--some on the record and some off the record.
The key moving forward is retaining as many players as possible in the NIL transfer portal era. My sources say Brumbaugh and Glenn will return, but the two to worry about are Banks and Williams. Recent history says it will be incredibly hard to keep them, but we will see what Tulane's NIL people can do. Their losses would be huge, but keeping Brumbaugh would be massive. In my opinion, he is the best player Hunter has had at Tulane because he's a winner whose work ethic and want-to infects his teammates. He absolutely loves it at Tulane. I never say never, though, because money talks, and if other guys leave, you never know what his thought process would be.
I will post quotes shortly.
