I was in the Dean Smith Center Monday during the NCAA national championship between North Carolina and Villanova. The life was sucked out of that arena when Kris Jenkins nailed the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The jubilation from just five seconds earlier, when North Carolina Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige converted on an unorthodox 3-ball to tie the game, was now sorrow.
The hurt remains for Tar Heel nation; after being that close to reclaiming glory following seven long years. Many although have moved on, however, the pain remains.
And then there is a man named Michael Kline who created a petition on Change.org titled, “I want the UNC/Villanova NCAA Championship game overturned.”
"Kline’s description, “This game was poorly officiated from the tip off to the end. It was a one sided called game all the way through. The officials called fouls against UNC that should have not been called and never called Villanova for the fouls they committed. The officials never called Villanova for multiple travel violations either. Also I want a complete investigation into the officials as it was them that decided the game not who played better.”"
Here’s the thing about Kline’s obviously one-sided observation of the title game–it doesn’t exactly add up. North Carolina’s perimeter defense was hindered in the first half when eight straight possessions included a foul. That is not exactly ideal, but Kris Jenkins was also sitting on Villanova’s bench with two fouls in the first half.
The foul discrepancy Mr. Kline speaks of was actually just four. Yes, North Carolina was only called just four more fouls than Villanova, a 20-16 count.
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I’m not impartial, I am a North Carolina Tar Heel fan, but I can be objective. Heck, there were some blatant missed calls throughout the game. Sure, on certain fouls the referees could have swallowed their whistles and let the kids play, but as bad is it looked–and it did look bad watching it live–the game’s fouls were evenly called.
Let’s be real here, North Carolina had a seven-point lead early in the second half and allowed Villanova to not only tie the game, but eventually take a 10-point lead.
North Carolina, also one of the top inside scoring teams in the country this season, shot 34 percent on two-point field goals Monday. Villanova did not allow UNC to feed the ball inside to Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, who’d been on a dominant stretch during the Tar Heels’ 10-game winning streak, fueling them to the title game.
Those factors have nothing to do with the refs who called a “one-sided” game.
Villanova held North Carolina in check and controlled the game–the same way it took Perry Ellis out of the game against Kansas and Naismith College Player of the Year Buddy Hield, who was held to just nine points in a dismantling of Oklahoma in Saturday’s semifinal.
Johnson was held to a usage rate of just 19.9 percent, his season average was 25 percent.
The Tar Heels were forced to rely on their guard play to beat the Wildcats and it didn’t end up playing in their favor.
Losing stings, in general, losing in the fashion in which the North Carolina Tar Heels did will hurt for a long time and its okay to be upset, but, the NCAA isn’t overturning this game, especially not because of the refs.