Always a great game thread when there's 0 talk about anything other than officiating
even though we got called for 6 more fouls and they shot 9 more free throws
I felt bad about making that snarky comment because I couldn't watch the game live. Just watched a replay and here's all the visibly questionable calls that I could find. Obviously there's a bias here, but trying to be objective
First Half:
- Clingan bobbled a pass and ball went out of bounds with 10 and a half to go. Called UConn ball, could have been Butler ball. UConn favored 1-0
- Hawkins hit Lukosius' hand on a follow throw with 6:25 left. This is always a 50/50, refs will rarely call it if the ball has already left the shooters' hand. But trying to give Butler the benefit of the doubt so I'll put it here. UConn favored 2-0
- Lukosius was stuck in the corner at 5:48 with Diarra and Karaban trapping. Phantom call on Diarra, UConn favored 2-1
- 4:45 Sanogo grabs an o-board on a Hawkins miss and Lukosius reaches over his back/shoulder trying to get the ball, no call. Sanogo falls and clearly travels with no call, so we'll cancel these out. Sanogo then gets hit on the putback with no call, so it's net Butler +1. Tied 2-2
- 3:13 Sanogo hits Bates in the face with an elbow while going for a tip in. Offensive foul, but it's just weak to ask for a flagrant there. UConn favored 3-2
- 2:07 Andre bumps Taylor in the air to get a monster block, but Taylor simultaneously is extending his off arm which is what puts the play in such an awkward angle. Will cancel these out. UConn still favored 3-2
- 25.5 Karaban takes a shot and Taylor doesn't even try to box out. He finds Sanogo, extends 2 arms and pushes him. No call, tied 3-3
- 21.3 Taylor gets called for an offensive foul where Alleyne is still moving his feet. Probably a make-up call for #7, but still a bad one. UConn favored 4-3
- 1.4 when Alleyne's shot is in the air, Sanogo is running to the hoop and bulldozes Chuck Harris. No call, UConn favored 5-3
Second Half: lot more whistles in this half
- 16:51 Andre swiped Bates arm while he goes up for the putback. Should have been an and1, UConn favored 6-3
- 16:04 Hawkins gets called for a phantom foul on Harris for an and1. Didn't really see contact on that, UConn favored 6-4
- 15:11 Sanogo pushes Hunter under the hoop and Hunter gets called for the foul. UConn favored 7-4
- 15:01 Harris visibly pushes Alleyne with the off hand and sends him flying into the lane, no call and eventually led to Butler free throws. UConn favored 7-5
- 13:17 Jackson gets (rightfully) called for pushing Bates. But he did that because Bates set a hard illegal screen a few seconds earlier that wasn't called (brought the arms up and turned his body to initiate the contact). Personally I'm fine with this so I'll keep it UConn 7-5. Big East basketball baby
- 13:03 Harris gets called for a reach on Newton. He did reach, and there was contact, but it was a pretty weak call. UConn favored 8-5
- 12:09 Clingan has his foot in Harris' landing space on his jumper, no call. UConn favored 9-5
- 9:56 really weak call for an illegal screen on Clingan. UConn favored 9-6
- 7:56 Taylor gets called for an offensive foul which WAS a foul (set a "screen" by stepping out and elbowing Sanogo in the side). But Sanogo definitely either tripped or sold the contact and sprawled to the floor. I hate flopping so I didn't like that, but it was the right call. I'll keep it UConn 9-6
- 7:17 it looks like Lukosius stepped in Hawkins' landing space on a 3 but I didn't have a great angle. I'll ignore it, still UConn 9-6
- 5:04 Alleyne gets his hands on Lukosius' body while he's in the air for a shot, no call. UConn 10-6. This happened again at 4:04 and they correctly called the foul
- 4:47 Ali tries to commit murder on Tristen Newton and gets a flagrant for it. That's an obvious call. Still UConn 10-6
- 3:21 - 3:08 Harris is all over Newton on the inbound and gets caught when Newton puts him in jail. Harris hits the floor because he's busy climbing Newton's back. Harris then knocks over Newton while going for a rebound later in the possession with no call. Probably 3 fouls in these 13 seconds, none of which were called. UConn 10-7
- 2:16 there is contact on Sanogo during a Harris layup that was not called. UConn 11-7
So there it is. UConn had 4 more questionable calls go in our favor. We won by 22.
Butler lost because they were lazy on the boards, they left Bates on an island, and they missed a lot of makeable shots. Centers who play in the post back down with their shoulders and bully through, that's just low post basketball... If your guy can't handle it, you need to help him. There were two times (5:09 in the first half and 15:23 in the second half) where Bates had Karaban on a mismatch and started playing the same exact bully ball. UConn IMMEDIATELY sent help and it led to a cross court pass and missed shot both times.
They kept it close with high energy and riding the wave of a great home crowd. We pulled away because Sanogo took over and Butler didn't make any adjustments to slow it down. Great win!