This came from ACC now, a blog from the News & Observer. Nothing can happen on Tobacco Road that doesn't spark controversy. With the game tied at 86-86 and a minute left, NC State forward Ben McCauley was called for a foul on Duke's DeMarcus Nelson. Right after the foul is called, you can see McCauley waive his arm to signal a hook (which would be a foul on Nelson).
Watching the replay above, you can see that Nelson initiated the contact twice: throwing his forearm into McCauley and then the hook. Yet McCauley gets the foul call.
Nelson hit one of two free throws, which turned out to be the final score of the ballgame: 87-86.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-01-2008 @ 11:00PM
jianco said...
McCauley pushed him out of bounds with his body. The foul call was correct
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3-02-2008 @ 3:01AM
eric said...
I'm a Duke grad - it was a terrible call, but you can't have too much beef with the refs because the entire game was filled with terrible calls each way - eapecially of the block/charge variety. It's really a shame, players got up and played pretty well for a noon EST game (hit the first 35-odd FTs combined) and played well all along on both sides and the refs seemed as if they were suffering the effects of a hangover throughout.....ugh.
These teams played two solid games this year and this one was marred by terrible zebra work which made a mockery out of what was a hyper-competitive contest and hard work from kids on both teams. Memo to the refs: next time the game starts early, get some sleep and don't get so drunk the night before.
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3-02-2008 @ 5:15AM
Jaysway18 said...
Wow, where to start? This is just terrible. I know that there are basically no requirements to post a blog but somehow you have failed to live up to the standards of a position that basically has no standards to live up to. This is exactly the kind of lazy, self indulgent junk that fuels fan hatred of Duke. You take a valiant comeback effort by a young and talented team and reduce it to a thinly-veiled reference to favoritism and unethical behavior by the referees. This from the head tyler hansbrough cheerleader on the planet. What a joke.
Anyone interested in reading a well developed look at how this game was really won and lost, read this: http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=24494
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3-02-2008 @ 8:04AM
Jim O. said...
If anything, that's more of a makeup call. Their were many "phantom" fouls called on the Duke and I'm fairly certain State fans would have the same gripe. Don't blame Duke for bad officiating. Such is life in the ACC.
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3-02-2008 @ 8:07AM
Jim O. said...
If anything, that's more of a makeup call. There were many "phantom" fouls called on the Duke and I'm fairly certain State fans would have the same gripe. Don't blame Duke for bad officiating. Such is life in the ACC.
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3-02-2008 @ 9:44AM
lovefromthebells said...
It's just another example of the cheating dookie refs, the rest of the league knows it's 5 on 8 everytime any team plays the dookies. This is one example of hundreds, but it's not even the worst. The most impartial officiated game in history was when NC State was at Duke earlier this year.There is a saying going around with much truth, if the dookies ain't cheatin' they ain't competin'.
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3-02-2008 @ 10:09AM
Thomas said...
State was whistled for 6 more fouls and shot 8 less free throws than Duke, so I dont think Duke fans can gripe about the calls. As always, there's that whining minority of Duke fans that make the rest of the country loathe Duke.
Whether they admit it or not, it WAS a bad call. I doubt it was intentional, but it was the wrong call. Bad calls happen; I personally felt State got tenitive towards the end of the game, playing not to lose rather than to win.
I dont dislike Duke for getting the call (Ill reserve that right for the State fans), I dislike the Duke fans that pretend it never happened.
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3-02-2008 @ 10:57AM
Chris said...
That isn't a good angle on the play. The television broadcast and the TV replay had much better angles. It was a hook and McCauley didn't foul him. That doesn't excuse State from blowing a 13-point lead. But it was a bad call that put Nelson on the line for the game-winning free throw. If the right call had been made, he wouldn't have gone to the line and the game might have turned out differently.
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3-02-2008 @ 1:55PM
kingbee.buzzbuzz said...
From the other angle -- the view from under the basket they showed on tv -- it looked like Nelson's hook came after McCauley bodied him. I think all of it -- Nelson's little arm-check, McCauley's nudge, Nelson's hook -- were probably incidental and could have gone either way. But once you call the blocking foul, the hook is moot. There were a lot of fouls called in this game; it's hard to say any one made the difference.
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3-02-2008 @ 2:32PM
duke25 said...
This is a simple one to clear up. Demarcus Nelson hooked the NC State player. However, listen to the audio. The hook came after the whistle, therefore it was after the foul was called. Nelson instigated the contact with the forearm and McCauley got called for bumping him. Both should have been non-calls. However, Nelson made the free throws and NC State lost its aggressiveness. Game over.
The author is a noted UNC fan, so consider the source of his unethical reporting.
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3-02-2008 @ 3:20PM
tobrien28 said...
Remember the game was tied at the time. Duke had already come back. There is no excuse for NC State.
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3-02-2008 @ 10:09PM
Ryan said...
there really is no excuse for nc state (that goes for this season as well as this game), but i don't see how you make that call with a minute left and the game tied. if you're the ref and you blow the whistle you better be damn sure that there was something worth calling and there wasn't anything worth calling there, that said, state was only down 1 with a minute left...
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