OXFORD — Ole Miss coach Chris Beard and Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington voiced support for rules changes in college basketball after their game on March 3.
No. 22 Vanderbilt beat the Rebels 89-86 in overtime at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion.
An unusual play swung the game in Vanderbilt’s favor at the end of regulation. While Ole Miss forward Malik Dia was getting ready to shoot two free throws with 26 seconds remaining in regulation in a tied game, referees went to the scorer’s table for a review.
The referees ruled Dia had committed a flagrant foul on the previous Ole Miss (12-18, 4-13 SEC) possession with 49 seconds left.
It happened when Dia missed a shot, fell to the floor and raised his left leg and hand as he scrambled to the floor. That action tripped Vanderbilt’s AK Okereke and constituted a hook-and-hold flagrant foul.
It was Dia’s fifth foul, but he could not be fouled out until he shot his free throws. Dia made his two and was removed from the game.
Okereke made his two free throws on the other end to tie the game back up. It led to overtime and an eventual Vanderbilt (23-7, 10-7) win.
Beard said he felt Dia was fouled when he missed the shot with 50 seconds remaining.
“There’s a human element,” Beard said. “Refs can’t get every call. Because Dia got fouled and they didn’t call it, human element, there were two guys on the floor. Dia reached up and grabbed his leg. I didn’t get an explanation.”
Byington credited his video coordinator for picking up on the play and asking to review it on the following possession. He also said he is not a fan of how the hook-and-hold rule is written, and that it can swing a game in an instant.
“The referees are calling it how it’s supposed to be called,” Byington said. “Not saying anything about them. They are doing what’s supposed to be called. I think we’ve got to change some things around in that.”
Beard said the referees train for a long time, and at some point you’ve got to leave judgments about flagrant fouls and foul severity up to referees and not reviews.
“If we don’t want the human element, let’s let robots, let’s let AI officiate it,” Beard said. “Or let’s check every single play that happens and turn basketball into a six-hour deal.”
The length of the game was an underlying theme to Beard’s postgame press conference. The Rebels and Commodores tipped off at 8 p.m. Because of a bevy of reviews and stoppages at the end of regulation, the game ended at 10:52 p.m., just after Patton Pinkins missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in overtime.
“In my opinion, you asked the question, the people that control our game and make the rules of our game have got to get this fixed,” Beard said.
Beard predicted games in the upcoming NCAA Tournament will be slowed down by a similar logjam of timeouts, reviews and coaches challenges.
“I don’t know what this NCAA Tournament is going to look like,” Beard said. “I guess everything is going to be appealed and everything is going to be challenged.
“I’ll predict this. There will be major changes in college basketball by next season because I think we’re about to look at an NCAA Tournament where the games are going to be longer than ever.”
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
