The Indiana Hoosiers needed 55 minutes on their home floor to beat 12-11 Penn State on Wednesday night.
It was a 110-102 final, improving depleted Indiana to 15-8 and getting the Hoosiers back to .500 in conference play.
The truth is, Penn State probably should have won this game. The Hoosiers dodged defeat thanks to one of the closest buzzer-beater calls you'll ever see.
But the basket to keep the game going should not have counted.
As time expired in the first overtime, IU's Josh Newkirk made a drive to the hoop and put his shot up right as the horn blared. In real time, it looked as though Newkirk got the ball out of his hands before the backboard light came on. But upon review, though it was very, very, very close, multiple angles suggested the ball was still -- just barely -- in contact with Newkirk's fingertips as time expired.
The officiating crew spent nearly five minutes looking at all angles. Without 100 percent clear evidence, the refs followed proper protocol and did not overturn the play. It was called a made basket in real time, and so a made basket it remained.
Had the zebras deemed the shot late (which almost never happens on a bang-bang call; they are inclined to count the basket and then check the video to confirm or deny), then it's likely that call would have remained the same as well.
Penn State coach Pat Chambers was viciously angry when the call was upheld. The replay was shown on Indiana's new, high-definition videoboards for all to see. He saw what I saw: Newkirk not releasing the ball before 0.0 was on the clock/the backboard lit up. The outcome is huge for Indiana because a loss here would've put the Hoosiers squarely on the bubble. Instead, they get home with a win and now prepare for a road game against 19-3 Wisconsin on Sunday.