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NCAA didn't know the score in this game
The NCAA governs the event tighter than China oversees Tibet these days.
All advertising in the arena is covered by NCAA banners. No free plugs allowed at an NCAA tournament, even if corporations paid top dollar to have their signs inside the arena.
In the bowels of the arena, there are people who guard the doors leading to the doors that lead to the doors to the court.
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No detail escapes the watchful eye of Big Brother, a.k.a. the NCAA.
Except the score of the basketball game.
In California's 55-52 loss to Alaska-Anchorage Wednesday afternoon, a scoring mistake nearly played a role in the outcome.
When Alaska-Anchorage's Carl Arts made a jump shot with his foot on the three-point line late in the first half, the game officials correctly signaled a two-point basket. However, the official scorer and scoreboard operator credited Arts with a three-pointer.
The mistake went unnoticed during the next timeout, perhaps because just before that stoppage Cal's Theron Colao made a three-pointer that was questioned. The game officials correctly ruled Colao's basket was indeed a three and never discussed Arts' bucket.
The NCAA's statisticians noticed their play-by-play did not match Alaska-Anchorage's point total on the scoreboard, but didn't know what caused the discrepancy. A member of California's sports information department called the mistake to the NCAA's attention at halftime, when Alaska-Anchorage led 25-23. California's scorekeeper correctly had the score as 24-23.
The NCAA said the mistake was no longer a correctable mistake. The score remained 25-23.
You would think that at least one person would be in charge of knowing the score. Apparently, the NCAA is too busy making sure people don't let the logo on a Coca-Cola bottle show up on a crowd shot on its Webcast to pay attention to minor details like the score.
It's likely that none of the fans in the arena even noticed the score was wrong. At least none was yelling in the direction of the scorer's table.
With the game being closely contested down the stretch, I had the feeling the one point might cost California a win. It brought back memories of the mid-1980s when Lawrence "Deuce" Skurcenski, serving as the official scorer, mistakenly credited a Farrell player with a basket instead of a Uniontown player during a famous high school playoff game at the Pitt Field House.
That mistake wasn't corrected and the two points decided the outcome.
Farrell won a game Uniontown should have won.
This time, the snafu didn't cost anyone a victory. However, had the score been 54-52 - as it should have been - California didn't need to heave a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. A two-pointer would have forced overtime, but it's unlikely Theron Colao's last-second shot would have come from inside the three-point line. There was simply not enough time at the start of Cal's final possession to drive to the basket for a two-pointer.
So Cal's season ended without controversy, though three wins shy of what the Vulcans had hoped for.
"I'm proud of my guys," Cal coach Bill Brown said. "When we began the year, we lost four starters from last season, including three all-conference players. Then we lose by 60 at Tennessee in an exhibition game. I felt it was going to be a long year. But as the season went along, I realized Tennessee was a good team, even ranked No. 1 at one point.
"Our guys came together and did the things you need to be successful. ... It didn't crystallize until conference play. We played eight of our first 11 games on the road. The mentality was to survive the first half of the schedule and then get a reality check on where we were."
Not many expected that to be on the road to the Elite Eight. While the disappointment will be tough to push aside, you have to think it won't be another 12 years before California is back in the Elite Eight.
Maybe next time the NCAA will how to keep score.
Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com
