It was a matter of time for one of the NCAA Tournament's Cinderallas on Sunday.
The Creighton-San Diego State Elite Eight matchup was filled with late drama, but most of it came by way of the officials, not the players. A controversial late foul call, followed by a questionable ruling on the time remaining in the game, stained an otherwise entertaining 57-56 Aztecs win.
MORE: Creighton foul controversy, explained: Reviewing crucial foul call that sent SDSU to Final Four
With 1.2 seconds remaining and his team trailing, Creighton guard Baylor Scheierman heaved a prayer of a full-court inbounds pass that tipped off the fingers of Arthur Kaluma and landed out of bounds. Eagle-eyed viewers noted that there may have been a minuscule amount of time left on the clock when the ball hit out of bounds — 0.3 seconds, roughly. The referees reviewed the video and eventually declared the game over.
Viewers also pointed out that Scheierman's right foot came dangerously close to stepping in bounds when he launched his heave:
Why creighton 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Ww7rH4a6f7
— Stan of Mike McDaddy/Wilkins/Tua (Picante Hater ) (@Tranracialangel) March 26, 2023
IT'S AZTEC MADNESS AS SAN DIEGO STATE IS HEADED TO HOUSTON!@Aztec_MBB is going to the Final Four for the FIRST TIME in school history 🤩 pic.twitter.com/fmRL39yPLM
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 26, 2023
Why referees got the clock call in Creighton-San Diego State right
The NCAA offered their own explanation following the game, saying that the situation was handled properly.
NCAA explanation: Officials "determined the clock did not start when it was initially touched on the inbounds pass. The crew used the embedded clock within the DVSport replay system and it was ruled the clock hit zero before the ball touched out of bounds, thus ending the game."
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 26, 2023
Officials "determined the clock did not start when it was initially touched on the inbounds pass. The crew used the embedded clock within the DVSport replay system and it was ruled the clock hit zero before the ball touched out of bounds, thus ending the game."
CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore broke down the situation frame by frame following the game:
— Scheiereman's foot was still out of bounds on the throw, so there was no real controversy surrounding an illegal throw-in. Even if the toe was on the black line, that's still considered out of bounds.
— It appears as though the clock operator did not start the clock the second the ball was tipped by Kaluma. Because of that, the review at the scorer's table is made with a stopwatch to determine how much time passed between the official touch and the ball hitting out of bounds. The officials found that there was no time left on the clock after review,
MORE: Brothers Arthur Kaluma, Adam Seiko share emotional embrace following Creighton-SDSU
Creighton coach Greg McDermott wasn't given much of an explanation for the timing at the end, but it probably wouldn't have mattered much, considering there likely would not have been enough time to get a shot off.
"No, I wasn’t given an explanation," McDermott said post game. "They just didn’t think there was any time left. There was no call on the floor on whose ball it was. I’m not sure what they were reviewing."
TSN's MARCH MADNESS HQ
Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Predictor tool
The Aztecs get to keep dancing, all the way to the Final Four. The clock struck midnight — and triple zeroes — for Creighton.