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Off the cuff: While these NCAA games are exciting, it's frustrating to see officials call these games differently than they do during the season. It seems someone has told them to take the whistle out of their mouths and let them play ... but still enforce the hand check foul. This was the first time Carolina has seen these officials this season and it appeared that Providence's style more suited the officials because Carolina had two players in foul trouble - McAdoo and Johnson - before Providence even had a foul. Providence shot 21 free throws on the night compared to just 13 for Carolina. There were a number of traveling violations ignored as well. I'm not one to complain so much about officiating because it normally evens out in the end. But when guys are being knocked out of bounds and it's not called, yet itty bitty contact draws a foul, that's bull. UNC's Nate Britt got run over and knocked out of bounds on a loose ball and UNC's Leslie McDonald was not only knocked out of bounds without a foul being call but the ball was awarded to Providence. A number of times players on both teams were hacked down low without a call and then a touch foul closer to the key would be called. There were a couple of block/charge calls that on replay one can see the officials made the wrong call. One such call against McAdoo gave him his fourth foul. Speaking of McAdoo, there was no excuse for the officials taking so long to determine how much time was left on the clock when he went to the line at the end of the game. They in essence were icing McAdoo, who had to wait a total of five minutes while officials tried to get the time right. And they didn't even get the time right the second time as the clock started late on McAdoo's rebound. There should have been less than a second left when he was fouled. The call that seemed to perturb Coach Williams the most was when Desmond Hubert set a screen at midcourt and was called for a foul. In looking at the replay, Hubert seemed to be set in proper position when the defender ran into him. The call was a big one as Carolina was looking to extend a five-point lead to seven or maybe eight at the end of the half. Instead, Bryce Cotton hit a bucket and Providence went into the locker room at the half with some momentum and just a 39-36 deficit instead of perhaps a 41-34 or 42-34 deficit. --------------------------- Not sure Providence coach Ed Cooley meant to be condescending to North Carolina after the game but he was. Most coaches praise the other team after a loss. Cooley said, “Nobody even thought our guys would be here to play the almighty blue bloods… I thought we deserved to win. But you’ve got to get lucky at the right time and we didn’t.” Hmmm. He’d be a good coach for one of Carolina’s chief rivals. Calling someone a “blue blood” isn’t considered a positive. Neither is calling the other team lucky, even if Coach Williams thinks his team was fortunate. Perhaps Cooley's team deserved to win but not any more than the Tar Heels deserved to win. He did say it was a well-played game. Of course he also said, "I thought the game was well officiated." By the way Cooley, who has a skin condition that prevents hair from growing in certain spots on the back of his head, has lost more than 100 pounds. For more on that, please click here.
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