No, really. Saturday was bad day for the guy. The Karen Sypher chants. The choreographed, venomous crowd. Cotton Eye Joe 58 seconds into the game. A 13-0 deficit before he could tussle his hair. Sneakers and a sports coat. Why, that and everything that transpired from buzzer to buzzer was enough to make him speak for 30 seconds with reporters afterward.

Um, I’m with Rick on this one.

For starters, I’m split on the two calls in question. That ball did go off Mazzulla, but only after he was tripped by a defender and no one called a foul. On the decisive play, I’ve watched it a bunch and I can see it going both ways, but when WVU’s side kind of sort of admits it got away with one …. well?

I can’t keep saying this because at some point it stops being true … but I really rarely complain about officiating. I’ll often have conversations with or read email from people after a game and they may think terrible things about the way the game was called and I’ll disagree. Generally, I think crews do a good job with the games.

Lately, though, I find myself leaving gyms and openly wondering if it’s me that’s changing or if the officials are really this bad. I’m leaning to the latter and especially after Saturday’s over-officiated affair game.

Where are we now when you see the officials and know right away one is going to be a problem for Bob Huggins — and, believe it or not, I’m not talking about the official who threw him and his radio guy out of a NCAA Tournament game in 2003. No, that old foe would be Mike Kitts, a good official, but also the guy who literally hid from the game’s most important play, which is almost inexcusable.

The predicted problem was Jim Haney, who Huggins aired out before Kitts handed him a technical Saturday. In truth, he probably deserved it, but again, you could see that coming.

And then there’s the third official, Les Jones, who one longtime college basketball reporter said was/is “awful.”

Here’s the problem in a nutshell. At the 15:07 mark of the second half, Louisville had been called for seven fouls. WVU hadn’t been called for one. Pitino looked like he was ready to go William Ligue, Jr. on someone. I promptly started the following conversation with my boss:

“Watch how fast they even this up.”
“Yep. Just a matter of when, not if.”

The Mountaineers got five of the next seven whistles and had their seventh foul called against them a mere 2:07 after the prediction. And at times WVU’s players looked to be actively avoiding calls, as if they knew something might soon conspire against them. Amazing.

All coaches and players and fans ask for is consistency and it has honestly been missing lately and it’s affecting the game. How do you guard someone or drive to the basket if you have no idea how the game is being called from possession to possession? You can’t and at this level with so much at stake, that’s not acceptable.  

After the game, one player said he was twice given a foul for doing exactly what his opponent was doing to him without a whistle. He asked Jones, “Can I get a home call one time?” and Jones promptly put the player in his place.

Then again, Louisville was wearing the white uniforms. The player admitted saying, “Are you confused who’s home because we’re wearing black and they’re wearing white?”

Honestly? Who knows?