Former ref clarifies Ashton Hagans ‘travel’ and Tyler Herro offensive foul

The Kentucky Wildcats were lucky to survive and win at home Tuesday vs. the Arkansas Razorbacks.

In a game where everyone expected a blowout in favor of Kentucky, it was the Wildcats who were getting manhandled for the first 22 minutes, as they trailed by 15 early in the second half.

Thankfully, the Cats came alive and finished the game on a 40-21 run to overcome the Hogs, 70-66. But it did not come without some controversy in the end.

With Kentucky leading 68-66 with 3.2 seconds remaining and inbounding the ball, Ashton Hagans appeared to commit a violation by moving too much on the baseline while getting the ball to Keldon Johnson.

However, former head of officials John Adams says that what Hagans did is not a violation.

However, what Tyler Herro did to Isaiah Joe on another inbound was an offensive foul that the refs didn’t call:

It’s hard to argue with that one. Herro clearly swung his arm into a defender to help ward him off, which should have been called an offensive foul.

While Kentucky certainly benefited on that occasion, there were plenty of bad calls both ways, especially in favor of the Razorbacks as they attempted to rally in the final minutes. One such play was what looked like a clear block by Keldon Johnson on Jalen Harris, but it was called a foul on Johnson:

There’s really no question that this was a bad game for the officials that hurt both teams throughout the contest. It just so happened that one of them came at the very end and helped Kentucky hold off the Razorbacks.

Also, Kentucky shouldn’t apologize to anyone anytime soon for benefiting from missed calls after the LSU debacle. That was far more egregious than any missed call that’s gone in favor of the Wildcats this season.