Virginia basketball defeated the Florida Gators by three on Friday night. However, for a moment, a bizarre scenario involving an incorrect call nearly flipped the entire college basketball game on its head in the final minute.
ESPN, through its on-site broadcast analyst, helped the officials to change a crucial ruling. It was ultimately the right decision, but it was a truly unprecedented sequence of events.
The Cavaliers were up by two with 54.9 seconds left. A loose ball play went in their favor at first.
Officials initially ruled on the floor that Virginia would get possession. They went over to the monitor, reviewed the play, and determined that the initial decision was correct.
That was not the right call. Florida should have been granted possession after the ball was last touched by the Hoos before going out of bounds.
A bizarre college basketball scenario proceeded to unfold.
ESPN analyst Cory Alexander was calling the game from the scorer’s table. He had a video monitor right in front of him and saw that the Gators should have been the benefactor of review.
Rather than keeping his concerns to himself, Alexander signaled for the officiating crew to come take a look. They ultimately saw his replay angle and reversed the decision. Florida ball.
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett was irate and proceeded to chew out Alexander from across the court. Fortunately, his team was able to hold on to the win.
There is a lot of debate surrounding Alexander’s actions. Should that be allowed?
His decision to behoove the officials to take another look at the loose ball play resulted in the correct call. It led to the right ruling being made. That is a good thing.
On the flip side, it feels as though Alexander may have overstepped his role to some extent. The officials have their jobs. The announcers have theirs.
Is it the announcers’ jobs to keep the college basketball officials honest?