Shortly before the announcement of No. 3 seed NC State’s 76-66 win over No. 1 seed Texas on Sunday in the Elite Eight, ESPN reported that the line of 3 points at one end of the field used for the Portland regionals had been painted. incorrectly. Texas coach Vic Schaefer and NC State coach Wes Moore agreed to continue the game despite the error to avoid any significant delays.
The NCAA has issued a statement at half-time, confirming it:
“The NCAA was informed today that the 3-point lines on the court at the Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance. Both head coaches were informed of the discrepancy and elected to play a full game on the field as is, rather than correcting the field and delaying the game The field will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland.
The broadcast showed a bizarre scene in which coaches unofficially measured the court by stepping out of the way with their feet while their teams performed pregame shooting drills.
“The NCAA notified both coaches around noon local time, 3 a.m. ET,” play-by-play announcer Courtney Lyle said. “Wes Moore and Vic Schaefer both came out to the field to take a look. They asked the NCAA to measure, and they did. The NCAA measured from the baseline to the top of the 3-point line and saw that there was a difference on either side of the court. Wes Moore and Vic Schaefer both agreed to play this game to avoid any delays.
Here’s more from ESPN reporter Brooke Weisbrod:
“(NCAA’s Lisa Peterson) confirmed that the floor had been the same all week and both coaches decided after looking at it that they agreed. It had been measured, but ( Peterson) said he will do it professionally tomorrow just to make sure we have the exact measurements. For now, both coaches are okay with playing like that.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer said news of the problem reached him just before the game started, after his team had already warmed up.
“They gave us the opportunity to have someone come in and notice them, which would have taken about an hour and we might have lost our window with ABC, or playing. (NC State coach) Wes (Moore) wanted to play, and we played, I wasn’t one to say, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ so… You want to know if I think that had anything to do with the game?
“I would have really loved to do what I usually do in the last 12 minutes before a game, instead of walking around trying to see if the floor is messed up. If I had done that, I would have been the one to do it. in the room that wanted to do it.”
Prior to the 2021-22 season, the NCAA approved the adoption of the international 3-point line for women’s basketball after “studying statistical trends that showed the number of attempted and successful 3-point field goal attempts reached unprecedented levels.” The change pushed the line back to 22 feet, 1 and 3/4 inches.
“They were measuring certain things,” Moore said in a first-half interview. “That’s all I want to say for now. Let’s talk about the game.”
The exact error regarding the Portland court lines remains unclear. From a broadcast perspective, the left side of the court is the one with the shortest distance between the top of the key and the 3-point line. Through the first four games in Portland, teams have shot slightly better from downtown on that side of the court.
|
3 p.m. |
23 |
19 |
|
3PA |
79 |
73 |
|
3P% |
29.1% |
26.0% |
Two teams – Texas in its win over Gonzaga and NC State in its win over Stanford – had a half where they shot at least 50% from the left side of the court, while the highest mark was recorded in a half on the right side. from the floor was Baylor’s 42.3% loss to USC.
“I guess that’s why we shot better in the 2nd half…decent 3 point distance!!” Nicki Collen, Baylor head coach wrote on social networks. “For the record, with 8 teams at one venue you have so little preparation time on the main pitch and you are focusing on game planning and just making shots!”
While the spreads aren’t conclusive, there’s no doubt that teams struggled shooting the ball in Portland this week.
