One sports axiom is that officials shouldn't be blamed for a team losing a game because the losing team should have performed better on the playing field. Maybe that's true for the most part, but the ending to the Big East Tournament's Rutgers-St. John's game tells a different story:
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The Red Storm is up, 65-63, over Rutgers with 4.9 seconds left. Rutgers inbounds the ball all the way past half court, but it winds up being touched by a number of players before St. John's gains possession. Once that happens, St. John's Justin Brownlee takes the ball past half court, travels with the ball, steps out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left and then chucks the ball into the stands.
↵So, that's two fouls and a chance for Rutgers to get one final shot, right? Nope. The refs don't call any of that and then leave the court without even reviewing it. And we wonder if referees are on the up and up. A Syracuse-St. John's match-up on Thursday must be so much better than a Syracuse-Rutgers game.
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