Villanova - UNC

First of all, this was the Final Four matchup for this side of the bracket. The winner of this game was going to go to the finals and Carolina will do just that. Sorry Wisconsin, Michigan State and Kentucky, but the Big Ten despite having three teams in the elite 8 is a football conference not a basketball conference. I won't mention the easy road Wisconsin and Michigan State both had and yes they played the teams put in front of them, But let's not get ridiculous and talk about the Big Ten being this great basketball conference that got no respect. Illinois is for real absolutely but its Big Ten counterparts each won one tough game. And Kentucky - again not the toughest road - a good win over Utah and they looked good against Cincinnati, threes no way these Cats will give Carolina the fight Nova gave the Tar Heels. That being said - let's talk about arguably the greatest game of the tournament next to West Virginia's double OT win over Wake Forest.
Now had I stayed in my nose bleed seats at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, I may have given the referees the benefit of the doubt since they are on the court and I was almost a mile away. But after some well designed maneuvering, I ended up behind the basket normally reserved for the Syracuse student section, in much better position to give the harsh assessment of these referees that they deserve. But before I get into that, let's talk about the other aspects of the game.
First things first -if Villanova makes free throws, they win by 5. UNC made free throws (19-24 79%) when it counted, Villanova didn't (12-19 63%). Also, at least 3 or 4 of those missed free throws were the front end of a 1 and 1. Other than their performance from the line, the Wildcats played a great game and gave the most explosive team in the country a run for their money. The most amazing thing about this game, is that with 3:20 left UNC was up by 10. I figured Carolina would end up covering the 10 1/2 point spread, not to mention win. But then 'Nova made one last run and almost came away with the win.
But the turning point in this game, came - yes, you guessed it - at the foul line for Villanova. Freshman Kyle Lowry toed the line with the Cats down 53-50 and 'Nova had yet to let Carolina get a two possession lead. Up to this point and for the rest of the game as well, Lowry played an amazing game. The freshman starting in place of the injured Curtis Sumpter, tallied a career high 18 points and also led Villanova in rebounds (7), assists(3) and steals(2). But the freshman standout missed this key free throw and would miss another front end of a 1 n 1 later on - and Carolina went on a 14-3 run. This doesn't take away from the great game Lowry played, at times blowing by this "5 pro" line-up of Carolina and leaving them not knowing what happened; but both these misses cost 'Nova a potential 4 points.
So yes, Villanova should have - thanks in part to Randy Foye's 28 points- not given the referees the option to affect the outcome of the game. That being said, that does not let the refs off the hook. I don't so much blame the referees for the outcome of the game, but they should be held accountable for a horribly officiated game. Tom O'Neill and his phantom walk call was not an isolated bad call. O'Neill's Terry Porter imitation just capped off the night to an awful night of officiating. And it looked very much like O'Neill blew the whistle then decided what to call - a parallel to Porter waiting 5 seconds to throw the flag before calling pass interference in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. But all three members of the officiating crew from last night should never ref another NCAA tournament game again - not to mention St. Louis for the Final Four. Within the first 5 minutes of the game, Villanova had picked up 5 or 6 ticky tack fouls. Then it seemed like the officials got a grip and god forbid let the teams play basketball. But the decided they needed to take over the game again at around the 11 minute mark of the second half. Again within a few minute span, Nova picked up ticky tack foul after ticky tack foul - and oh yea with Sean May knocking Wildcat players to the floor left and right.
Did they cost Nova the game ? NO. But they did themselves and officials everywhere no favors with that absurd excuse for officiating last night.