Clemson gets robbed at Duke (w. video)

Right after scoring 5 points in a single trip down the floor to tie the game, the #17 Clemson Tigers got robbed by the officials when #10 Duke was awarded an extra 2 full seconds on the final possession. What happened next? Duke scored with one-tenth of a second left on the clock to "win" the game. If the error hadn't been made, time would have run out 1.9 seconds prior to the winning basket and the game would have been sent to overtime, and Clemson had the momentum.

Instead, the Dukies get another batch of Cameron Indoor home-cookin' and take the win, 68-66. The worst part about the whole thing is that the referees actually took the time to review the play on the television monitors and somehow concluded that act of Clemson's catch, shot, flight, and made basket took only 0.6 seconds, contrary to any definition of common sense.

This sort of thing seems to happen unusually often at Cameron Indoor Stadium, doesn't it? And surprise, surprise, ESPN's Mike Patrick, play-by-play announcer and Duke-fanboy extraordinaire, had nothing to say about the bonus 2 seconds during the broadcast. To be fair, ESPN did highlight the error on the ensuing broadcast of SportsCenter.

Here is the key play on YouTube. The timing error is clear as crystal. Here's hoping the ACC will investigate this situation.



For those interested, here is the original, unedited ESPN broadcast of the last 12 seconds of the game. Notice how Patrick tries to advance the ridiculous argument that Clemson's last basket only took up 0.6 seconds including the catch, shot, and flight of the ball. Unreal.