Complete Load of ...

I needed to take a couple of days to let the pure emotion of UT Arlington's game against #25 Alabama sink in.

I need to first open with me saying how proud I am the guys fought through toughness. That road game sounded like a true test with the almost 12,000 in attendance. That's the only time I am okay with the Mavericks being outnumbered, the sixth man if you will.

But I'm going to come out and say it. In 160 plus posts on this blog you have never read the following statement. Those referees were such horse crap that they ought to be ashamed of themselves!

23 fouls to 13 isn't that big, but seven attempted free throws to 24. UTA made 31 out of 60 field goals to Alabama's 27 of 53. UTA won the FG percentage battle 51.7 to 50.9. UTA won the three-point battle in both shots made (ten to eight) and percentage (47.6 to 32). So offensively they were better. Translating that to the defensive side, UTA had the advantage. Add in the 33 to 28 rebounding margin and UTA clearly was the better defensive team.



That should be enough to win, since there is no special teams like there is in football. But in the game, I'm going to say there was. The free throw advantage was clearly in the home team's favor. Alabama shot 24 free throws, making 15 of them. UTA, on the other hand, was a cool 4-7. You triple (triple!) UTA's free throw attempts and Alabama still shot more. UTA had three players shoot free throws. Kevin Hervey was two for two, Kaelon Wilson completed his lone attempt and Link Kabadyundi was one for four. Meanwhile, Alabama also three players attempt. Galin Smith was one for one. And then there's the Tide backcourt. Dazon Ingram was four of eight and Colin Sexton was 11-14.

It'd be one thing to see a player so quick and so aggressive to earn those fouls. But looking at that game, some of Sexton's calls were phantom at best. I see of the charge or blocking calls and there clearly was a bias. Don't know how Sexton can lower a shoulder, run directly into a guy and it be the defenders fault. But those refs said otherwise.

The other factor to consider is the amount of fouls effect the game play. Wilson fouled out (due a lot to those phantom calls) and both the interior men, Kabadyundi and Johnny Hamilton, were playing with four fouls. Pulling people to give them foul rest can drastically alter where a game goes.

UTA led the game for 26:32. When Alabama made their run, that's when the whistle's were at their worst. Coincidence?

Also, Alabama was 3-0 coming into that game. Sexton was 6-13 from the free throw line in those games. You mean all of a sudden he figured it out?

Look, Sexton is a good player, but this was like watching Dwayne Wade against the Dallas Mavericks in 2006.

I cringed when I heard play-by-play man Josh Sours say that there was a clean game being called early. The SEC has a reputation for the referees doing just enough for the home team to get the win. Right after he said that, I believe Alabama reeled off something like three fouls in four possessions. I knew it was going to be a battle from that point on.

In the end, UTA had a chance to win. They were down seven with a couple of minutes left. UTA made a run and got within the one point difference. Alabama was attempting an in-bounds pass near the end of the game and got whistled for a five-second violation. UTA regained possession. The only time I can say Alabama truly looked better was that final possession where their defense earned the win and a forced bad shot. Other than that, the crowd was the sixth man and the refs were the seventh. Hard to win in that scenario.

I liked the attitude I saw from the team. Doesn't look like they are going to dwell on this one. Chalk it up as one game and move forward. But the NCAA has a real issue on its hands with stuff like this. I think I'll dive deeper into that in a later post.

I was very impressed with the play of Kabadyundi and Hamilton. Some of my concerns to start the year about the interior play are starting to ease. The addition of Julian Harris will help there too.