Boise State Basketball: Broncos lose to CSU on questionable review

Boise State basketball fans were not happy with a questionable call causing a game-winning shot to be waved off.

Boise State appeared to have secured an 87-84 overtime win over Colorado State on Wednesday night when junior forward James Webb III drilled a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but a questionable call wiped out the shot and sent the game to a second overtime.

Colorado State dominated the second overtime session on its way to a 97-93 win, and Boise State fans were left flabbergasted that the Broncos had been robbed of their apparent victory. This one will sting for a while for Broncos fans.

Here’s the shot that caused the controversy, as Tweeted out by Colorado State beat writer, Matt Stephens.

The Mountain West has yet to release an official statement about the play, but at the conclusion of the game the conference released the following statement from official David Hall regarding the review:

"The protocol on any last-second shot, after the shot is made, you go to the monitor to review whether the shot was taken in time or not.  We followed the protocol, we went to the monitor and we reviewed whether the shot was taken in the 0.8 seconds that was on the game clock when the ball was inbounded. We did that and we noticed that the game clock was not started upon touch. We then used a stopwatch overlay from the monitor review system to determine when he touched it and then figure out how many tenths of a second it took from the time he touched the ball until the time he released the ball and whether he was able to get that shot off in that 0.8 seconds. After reviewing that several times we determined that the shot was late. It was not taken in that 0.8-second time frame, but actually closer to 1.2 or 1.3 time frame. As a result, the basket does not count."

In my eyes the shot looks like it took less than 1.2 seconds. That should technically be enough time to take a dribble and shoot. Because he caught it while heading toward the sideline, Webb III’s release wasn’t the cleanest. However, it was still a clean enough catch that it wasn’t likely to take longer than if he took a dribble and tried to collect the ball.

If the public’s reaction to the call meant anything, the shot would’ve counted. The outcry came from many sources.

Fans:

Basketball Analysts:

And players — allegedly on both sides

The loss combined with Fresno State’s win over conference-leading San Diego State dropped the Broncos to fourth in the Mountain West. In the end, there’s nothing that Boise State can do but look toward its next game and hope that Drmic’s comments don’t add insult to injury with a punishment.

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The ending marked the second time in less than a week that a questionable and potentially game-changing call was made in the late stages of a game. On Saturday, New Mexico had a 3-point lead and the ball with 12 seconds remaining in regulation against San Diego State.

Lobo guard Cullen Neal attempted to pass the ball to Xavier Adams, who was heading past the baseline boundary. Adams appeared to get at least one foot down to establish himself as the new inbounder before the ball arrived, but the officials disagreed. San Diego State was awarded possession, hit the game tying 3-pointer, and won the game in overtime. After the game, the conference issued a statement indicating that the wrong call was made.

Who got it right? The officials or the angry mob? Let us know in the comments!