The Buzzer-Beater none of us saw

I hope you enjoyed th3 weekend.

After all, it was a great weekend of hoops. There were great games, great moments, and a bunch of great finishes.

Saturday featured the most single-day buzzer-beaters of the season. Four of them were documented by the internet's finest (Creighton, Penn, Pacific, Virginia Tech).

They were also ranked by Jeff Eisenberg.

But clearly we didn't do enough sleuthing, because there was a fifth buzzer-beater.



That's Ty Greene of USC-Upstate hitting a game-winning three-pointer against Lipscomb on Saturday night. The Spartans trailed by 13 with 12 minutes left, but Greene, who finished with a game-high 17 points, led a comeback, and capped it off with the game-winner.

The win moved the Spartans to 11-4 in the Atlantic Sun and 18-10 overall, which is a far cry from the team's 5-25overall  and 4-16 A-Sun record from just a year ago.

Continue reading...

What makes the Battle of the Boulevard so special, and why it is a rivalry you should care about

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here.

This post is sponsored by the Hampton Inn & Suites Cincinnati Uptown/University.

NASHVILLE, TN - The last time that Belmont and Lipscomb played at Memorial Gymnasium -- the home of the Vanderbilt Commodores, a fellow Nashvillian institution of higher learning -- they not only packed the house with 16,000 fans, they had to lock out ticket-holders in order to prevent the fire marshall from shutting down the game.

That was all the way back in 1990.
Continue reading...

Belmont's struggling, but still has the pieces to win a tournament game

This post is brought to you by the Holiday Inn Express Nashville Downtown and the delicious biscuits and gravy they have available at their continental breakfast.

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here.

NASHVILLE, TN - Belmont's chances of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament died a long time ago. If it wasn't when the Bruins came up short in their upset bids at Duke and at Memphis, then it was when they had a stretch of three losses in four games against the likes of Marshall, Miami OH and Middle Tennessee State.

When you play in a conference like the Atlantic Sun, you can't lose three games to teams that have no shot of getting an at-large bid and still expect the committee to call your name come Selection Sunday without your league's auto-bid. You just can't.
Continue reading...

Lipscomb files a complaint over the ending to the Arizona game

On Monday, Lipscomb played Arizona at Arizona. The game ended up going to overtime, where Adnan Hodzic gave the Bisons a two point lead with a free throw with 4.7 seconds left. But at the other end, Nic Wise hit a three at the buzzer that presumably gave the Wildcats the win.

The refs went to the monitors to review it, and eventually ruled that the shot counted.

But did Wise actually get the shot off in time? If you watch the replay, it looks like the ball is still in his hand when the light goes on.

See for yourself


Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson didn't argue the call after the game, but has since changed his stance. He told the Tennessean:

I don't want in any way, shape or form to sound like there's sour grapes on our behalf, but the clock showed 0:00 and the ball was still in (Wise's) hands. The red light on top of the backboard was on. We looked at it frame-by-fame.

The issue appears to be the angle that was used. When looking from behind, it seems that the ball is clearly in Wise's hand. But from that angle it is impossible to have any depth perception. From the side, it becomes a much more difficult call, and one that cannot be made using the youtube video above.

As with football, the original ruling stands unless there is sufficient visual evidence on the replay to overturn it. In this case, the original ruling is that Wise got the shot off, and since the angle from the side does not (according to the officials on the court) give indisputable evidence of the ball still being in Wise's hand, the officials did not overturn the call.

There is another issue.

The clock didn't start on time.

If you watch the video, you will see that the clock starts a half second late off the rebound. Taking that into account, Wise's shot probably should not have counted.

The most ironic part of all?

The refs asked for glasses at one point while reviewing the shot.

Continue reading...