I’ve gotten most of my say regarding the officiating out of my system. The only thing I’ll add is that I’m stunned to see the sanitizing of the officiating in the print accounts of the game. Not even a slight hint of it, with use of “dubious” or “questionable” regarding the intentional foul call in the final seconds in the stories. But then again, the Trib story refers to it as a flagrant foul — which I guess can happen when you send a guy who doesn’t follow much more than hockey this time of the year.

The good news is that Pitt was much better defending the 3-point shot this time out. Abe Lodwick was given very limited space and Washington really had to work for their shots in this game. Pitt definitely was  little more patient on defense in this game. They were getting frustrated in the second half with Reggie Moore getting to the free throw line by driving to the basket.

This game was different for Pitt since Ashton Gibbs was out with an ankle injury. There have been reports all season that he had an ankle bothering him, so maybe that played into his poor play in the last few games. Not to mention a sour look on his face. If he was fighting through the pain to play. At least, maybe, that’s what I’d like to think was happening.

Without Gibbs, the one big issue was trying to spell Tray Woodall. Or not spelling him. In the first half, twice Coach Dixon trotted out Isiah Epps and John Johnson to be in the backcourt for two minute spells that could be combined with media timeouts. Pitt survived but looked very shaky. The team’s movement stopped and no one was sure what to do on offense. The coaches noticed, and Woodall played the entire second half. Woodall also had a nasty split he performed when he tried planting one foot on the “Zebra Pen” sticker-sign temporarily placed on the court, mid-way through the 1st half. It looked painful, and given his injuries this year, probably felt even worse. Those two factors definitely impacted Woodall in the second half. Woodall scored all of his points in the first half and was 0-7 in the second half.

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I never thought I would write this, but I wish Tim Higgins and Jim Burr could be on the officiating crew for the final game of the CBI Championship. No. I’m not joking. I’ll get to the recap a little later. These morons deserve their own post.

I realize many of you didn’t see the game last night. Let’s jump ahead to the final seconds. Pitt has a 6-point lead after Lamar Patterson hit both free throws. There are under 15 seconds left. Washington State can’t mess around, despite their offense being slower than Pitt’s. They have to get a quick bucket. Pitt is not letting them. It is already under 10 seconds, so they do what they can to free a shooter. Forward Abe Lodwick literally plows through John Johnson in an attempt — I suppose — to provide a screen for Reggie Moore. Lodwick for extra emphasis puts a forearm into Johnson’s jaw. Johnson as he is being hit has his arms go around Lodwick. Legs tangling and Lodwick falls on top of Johnson. The whistle blows….

Intentional foul on John Johnson.

What?

Somehow the ref managed not to see Lodwick steamroll Johnson, and only saw Johnson “take down” Lodwick.

Courtesy of PantherSports, here is the video.

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