28-03-2025
Arizona vs Duke officials blasted for flagrant foul fiasco in Sweet 16: 'That's not right'
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Arizona vs Duke officials blasted for flagrant foul fiasco in Sweet 16: 'That's not right'
Some college basketball fans are crying foul over the officiating in Arizona's 100-93 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
And one play in the March Madness game especially caught their ire.
Not long after Arizona's Jaden Bradley was called for a flagrant foul after bringing Duke's Kon Knueppel to the floor in the second half, Duke's Patrick Ngongba II brought down Arizona's Henri Veesaar in a similar manner.
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However, the officials ruled Ngongba's play to be a common foul, not a flagrant foul, drawing criticism from the CBS Sports announcing team as well as social media.
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CBS Sports announcers criticize officiating in Arizona vs Duke game:
Here's how the situation went down on CBS as the play was being reviewed:
"It will be interesting to see if the officials stay consistent with that call, because they already gave it to Arizona," analyst Jim Jackson said.
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"Yeah, I don't see much difference in Bradley's versus this one," play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson replied.
"I think J.J. (Jim Jackson), you really nailed this … Ngongba takes him down," rules analyst Gene Steratore said.
Then after the officials announced it as a common foul, Steratore said: "I'm a little surprised by that fellas, I'm a little surprised by that. You know, it's one thing to be tied up like J.J. said earlier, but then you take him down to the ground. To me, now we're into those other descriptions of excessive and that's unnecessary to me. That's excessive to me. That rises to a flagrant foul."
Anderson then said: "I'm with you. That's a big break for Duke."
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Social media slams officiating in Duke vs Arizona game:
It was a big break for Duke as the sequence took away some momentum from the Wildcats, who had cut the lead to eight. After the sequence, Duke's lead was back up to 11.
Arizona never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Social media slammed the officiating for the call, with some alleging the fix was in to help Duke advance.
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The officials in the Duke vs Arizona Sweet 16 game have drawn criticism for their handling of fouls in the March Madness matchup Thursday, particularly flagrant fouls.
Non-flagrant foul not the only foul to draw criticism for officiating in Duke vs Arizona game
The non-flagrant foul on Duke may have been the biggest call (or non-call) in the game, but it was not the only one.
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Social media slammed the officiating crew all game long for the manner in which it called the game.
Arizona was called for 24 personal fouls in the game, while Duke was called for 22.
The Wildcats went 21-for-23 from the free throw line, while the Blue Devils ended the game 23-for-27, getting a lot of free throws toward the end to help them secure the victory and advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday.
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona vs Duke refs blasted for March Madness flagrant foul fiasco
