How Two Missed Calls Impacted WVU's Chances of Defeating Maryland

Maryland got some things to fall their way in their win over West Virginia.

West Virginia had runs of 14-0 and 16-0 and still lost to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This loss can't be blamed on the officiating, but that doesn't mean the officiating didn't impact the game. It did.

There were two calls in particular that really hurt West Virginia in a big way and both were fairly obvious. Yet somehow, they got it wrong on the biggest stage.

The first was in the opening minute of the second half when Emmitt Matthews Jr. attempted to run through a screen but injured his shoulder due to Maryland big man Julian Reese clearly sliding his feet to get back in front of him. It should have been an illegal screen, but instead, they called nothing and Reese rolled out of the screen, cut to the basket with his man on the floor, scored a layup, and got fouled. What should have been an illegal screen resulted in three points for the Terps. 

"I think it is an illegal screen. His feet are outside that frame, he's wide on the stance and he's really not set, Jim, when that contact occurs."

—@GeneSteratore pic.twitter.com/7rqKtoKpnG

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 16, 2023

The three points on that possession hurt WVU, but it wasn't as big as losing Matthews for the majority of the second half.

"It hurts us," said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. "He's a five-year guy that knows what we want done. He's our best perimeter defender. He gives us another guy on the glass who can keep balls alive and rebounds it. And he makes open shots. That's a huge loss for us."

This wasn't the only time Reese got away with it. In fact, the officials missed it two or three times beforehand and then once again not long after Matthews was taken out of the game. Matthews explained his take on it during a postgame interview with BlueGoldNews.

"That was like his third time doing it all game. It happens. I mean, if the ref doesn't see it, he doesn't see it. But I mean, when you set a screen and you're leaning into a guy and I'm chasing the man around the screen and then all of a sudden the guy is in front of me...I mean, I don't know. I don't have the stripes on and I don't have a whistle, so I just go out there and play and do my job."

Fast-forwarding to the end of the game, Maryland has a 66-63 lead with 47 seconds left. Maryland guard Jahmir Young drives the ball to the middle of the paint and loses control of the ball, throwing it out of bounds. 

It was initially ruled Maryland ball on the floor but the officiating crew went over to the monitor to review it, which took several minutes. After each camera angle the CBS broadcast showed of the play, it became more and more clear that it was last touched by Young. However, the head official said that they "didn't have enough evidence" to overturn the call. 

The entire broadcast crew, which included rules analyst and former official, Gene Steratore, were 100% convinced during the review that it would be West Virginia basketball. It cost the Mountaineers precious time. Maryland had the ball for an extra 20 seconds before Young was called for a travel. Had they got it right, WVU would have almost certainly been able to squeeze out another possession without having to foul. 

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