First off: a note. Creighton, their fans, and their coaches did nothing to merit any ire this game. They showed up, played the game to the best of their ability, and let the chips fall where they may, same as Xavier did. They got the benefit of the breaks at the end, but that’s out of their control. You tip your cap to Austin Swartz making an incredible shot in a tough spot, then rage.
And rage we will. I hate it when people say officials don’t decide games. They absolutely can. For evidence, I give
you tonight’s game. Xavier played well enough to win. Xavier deserved to win. Xavier did not win directly and solely because of poor officiating. The Musketeers did the requisite things to win the game well enough and should have enjoyed a massive road win. That they did not is the fault of John Gaffney, Pat Driscoll, and Paul Szelc.
We’ll start at the end there. Actually, we’ll start at 7:05. It was then that All Wright was called for a three shot foul for being in the area when Nik Graves tripped over his own feet and fell. Prior to that the officials watched Josh Dix travel blatantly, then Graves himself take three steps to get to where he could trip. Then they called Wright for a foul. It was a horrible call that they then compounded by reviewing, seeing there was a shot clock violation that could have bailed them out, and instead doubling down on the bad call.
It got worse. Filip Borovicanin drove with a chance to win the game, got bodied immensely, contact that had been called all day, and got nothing. On the other end, he laid of Swartz drive and got called anyway. Even the announcers were dismayed at the call. That was Borovicanin’s fifth, because he was assessed a technical earlier in the game for letting Jasen Green yell at him. John Gaffney awarded double technicals because he is too spineless to just assess the tech where it was deserved. (He also missed an obvious foul on Borovicanin that he called a charge, so…)
This was a travesty. The refs sucked all game and they decided the contest.
Which is a shame, because Tre Carroll and Filip Borovicanin put on a show. Carroll was incredible in the first half and just really good in the second on his way to 29/4/2. Borovicanin was immense in the last ten minutes of the game where he was involved in everything good Xavier did. He had 16/8/9 in another of his consistent runs at a triple double.
Xavier’s offensive plan was excellent. Four guys were in double figures, everyone who played more than ten minutes had at least six points, no one had an offensive rating under 103. It was a masterclass as the team ran out to 1.28 points per possession. But the defense, oh, the defense was terrible. Creighton scored 1.29 points per possession as Xavier just could not stay with or in front of anyone. Malik Messina-Moore was probably the chief offender. It was almost laughable if it was simultaneously so sad. It was like watching a puppy slowly drown. There was something so lovable in the flailing that it almost made you forgive him for getting in that position over and over. Jovan Milicevic was the other member of the litter slipping below the surface.
But that shouldn’t have mattered. Both of those guys were great on offense and made big plays when needed. All of Xavier did. Coach Pitino pulled the right strings, set up the right plays, and got guys in the right spots. What he couldn’t do was make sure that the officials enforced the rules correctly. No one could, and because of that Xavier lost.
There won’t be any oversight. These guys will work tomorrow. No one will care they are dog dirt at their jobs. No one will watch film. No one will try to correct. This crew is free to go ruin a great game again. If college basketball doesn’t fix the officiating it will kill the game far before NIL or transfers do. No one wants to watch an unfair product.
