Was Kentucky robbed at end of regulation?

Thankfully for the NCAA, John Calipari’s late-game coaching blunders will highlight the team’s overtime loss to the Seton Hall Pirates.

Before overtime even began, however, there was what appeared to be a blatant flagrant foul committed by Seton Hall’s Jared Rhoden against Kentucky’s PJ Washington.

The call was reviewed, but ultimately deemed not flagrant by the officiating crew. Some members of the media, including Seth Davis of CBS, seemed to disagree.

After all, Rhoden did extend his elbow after securing the rebound, striking Washington in the neck/throat area. The penalty for a flagrant 1 foul is two free throws and a throw-in for the opposing team at the out-of-bounds spot nearest the foul.

The call came with 39 seconds remaining, of which both teams were tied at 67 each. Had the call been deemed flagrant, Kentucky would have had resulted in two foul shots and possession of the ball.

Let it be noted that Washington shot 12-13 from the FT line on Saturday, which would have technically given him a 92% chance to take at-least a one-point lead and then get the ball back.

While it’s irrational to say Kentucky was robbed by a missed call that came more than five minutes before the game ended, the call was also thoroughly reviewed by the officiating crew. Either the letter of the law changed prior to Saturday’s tip-off, or Kentucky was at least sold short of two foul shots and possession of the ball.

It doesn’t help that this happened in the WKU-Arkansas game right after Kentucky’s one-point loss:

Still, this was a game Kentucky still should have won and really gave away due to late-game blunders. They have no one but themselves to blame for this loss.