College Basketball World Reacts to Foul Call at End of Creighton-SDSU Game

A bid to the Final Four came down to the last second and a critical call by the officials.

Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup between San Diego State and Creighton was a beautiful rock fight of a defensive battle. The back-and-forth action came down to the last second—and one crucial whistle from the officials.

With the score tied, 56-56, SDSU guard Darrion Trammell missed a floater in the lane as the clock neared zero. But Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard was called for a foul on the shot attempt, sending Trammell to the free throw line with 1.2 seconds to play. Trammell missed the first attempt but made the second to send the Aztecs to their first Final Four in program history.

San Diego State heads to the line in a tie game with 1.2 remaining 😮#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/zRP3Hc2KGu

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 26, 2023

The pivotal call was unsurprisingly a hot topic of debate in the immediate aftermath of the game, both on air among the CBS broadcasters and on social media. Particularly because of the physical, defensive-oriented nature of game—in which each team committed just 11 fouls and there were only 17 combined free throw attempts—seeing the foul called on the last play caught many by surprise. Check out some of the most notable reactions below.

between this and the Super Bowl we need to come together as a society to decide whether probably-a-foul-but-kinda-close calls in the closing moments of close sporting events are Good or Bad

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 26, 2023

Great game. Lousy finish. No matter who you root for. No one wants it to end like this

— Dana O'Neil (@DanaONeilWriter) March 26, 2023

If you decide a foul isn't a foul because the game is tied with a couple of seconds left, then you are giving the defensive team an unfair advantage. Refs don't "decide" a game by calling a foul. The player decides it by fouling. Not the way anyone wanted that game to end.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 26, 2023

When you watch the play at live speed the foul is even more obvious. You can't shove an airborne shooter.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 26, 2023

As a former highly respected @EWUAthletics intramural official, I would have called that foul.

— Colin Cowherd (@colincowherd) March 26, 2023

Ah, I see YOU-CAN'T-CALL-THAT twitter has been activated by a clear foul at a bad moment.

— Andy Behrens (@andybehrens) March 26, 2023

The tone for this game, set from the opening tip, was they were letting them play. Nothing was a foul. And then they call that with one second left? Don’t like it. #marchmadness #creighton #sdstate

— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) March 26, 2023

He's literally pulling on the hip as the shooter goes up. That's a foul.

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 26, 2023