by Jeremy Bauman / @JBauman13
St. John’s and Rutgers fought down to the final play today in the second round of the Big East Tournament, but the game did not end without controversy at Madison Square Garden.
Rutgers inbounded the basketball underneath their own hoop, threw the ball towards St. John’s three-point line, where St. Johns player Justin Brownlee came up with the ball with around 4.0 seconds on the clock. Upon seeing Coach Steve Lavin walk up the sideline, the forward ran out of bounds with the ball near the scorers table, stepped out of bounds at the 1.6 second mark, and chucked the ball into the stands.
The referees did not review the play and went straight into the locker room immediately following the play.
If the play was reviewed, there is little doubt that Brownlee would have received a technical foul–meaning Rutgers would have had two shots and the ball with 1.6 seconds left. No matter what, they would have had a chance at tying or taking the game into overtime.
These events will probably overshadow an entertaining back-and-forth affair, but it brings a broader question into play: Should these refs be allowed to ref the rest of the Big East Conference Tournament or not?
ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb already said that he believese these referees should be suspended. What do you think?
