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Posted 03/20/2011 at 08:49 PM
Arizona moves on to the Sweet 16 and it has been back-to-back lucky breaks for the Wildcats. Memphis was given a tough exit in the first round as a clear Derrick Williams foul on the rebound in the final seconds was let go and then a bizarre final sequence to squeak out a win against Texas.
Getting the rebound with less than 15 seconds to go Texas opted to call a timeout rather than wait for the impending foul, up two points. It proved to be a fatal mistake as the Texas did not get the ball in bounds in time for a 5-second violation. Williams was then given the benefit of the doubt on a hard offensive move with Jordan Hamilton seemingly holding firm postition. The defensive foul was called and the shot went in. Williams hit the free throw to take the lead by one.
J'Covan Brown casually drove through some contact to miss a late shot but Gary Johnson grabbed the rebound through clear contact that certainly could have been called a foul. Johnson was also contacted with in his attempt to get a shot off which appeared to come just before the final buzzer. No foul was called and Arizona moves on to Anaheim.
With the praise of officials handling the end of the wild Pittsburgh/Butler game and making the appropriate foul calls there should be some criticism of this officiating crew, clearly letting play go in the closing seconds. Those types of plays were called fouls throughout the game in what was an tightly called game with 37 fouls.
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