Thursday night’s basketball game between Ohio State and Rutgers ended with a game-winning shot from Tanner Holden. That being said, there was a controversial finish in Columbus.
Before Holden knocked down a game-winning shot from beyond the arc, Bruce Thornton tried to dribble past a few Rutgers defenders as he brought the ball up the court.
Although the officials didn’t call anything, it seems like Thornton stepped out of bounds.
To make matters worse, Jay Bilas pointed out that Holden was out of bounds before stepping back in to catch Thornton’s pass. Technically, that’s a violation.
The officials missed the call, and the rest was history. Instead of leaving Columbus with a huge win, Rutgers found itself on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Former Rutgers star Ron Harper Jr. had no issue calling out the officiating in the Big Ten.
“Sad part is refs gon get a slap on the wrist n nothing will change… smh officiating is a PROBLEM wake up @bigten,” Harper tweeted on Thursday night.
Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell thought the refs missed a huge call as well.
“I thought it was (out of bounds) because it was right in front of me,” Pikiell said, via NJ.com. “… Again, I’m not sure about the sideline thing. I thought he clearly was, but again, I didn’t see anything.”
Sooner or later, the Big Ten will have to address this sloppy finish to the Ohio State-Rutgers game.