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Should Oregon's court storm vs. UCLA have warranted a technical foul?

UCLA is undefeated no more. Oregon’s Dillon Brooks handed the Bruins their first loss in dramatic fashion with a contested three-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Ducks a two-point lead:

Brooks’ shot ignited pandemonium. But as fans stormed the floor, multiple officials immediately blew their whistles and held up their hands to signify that the game was not over. They went to the monitor and eventually put 0.8 seconds back on the clock.

So why was Oregon not assessed a technical foul for the premature court storm? Here’s how the pertinent section of the NCAA’s men’s basketball rule book reads:

“Art. 8. Team followers (fans, bands, cheerleaders and mascots associated with either team) shall not commit an unsportsmanlike act, including, but not limited to, the following:

d. Delaying the game by preventing the ball from being promptly made live or by preventing continuous play, such as but not limited to, followers entering the playing court before the player activity has been terminated. When the delay does not interfere with play, it shall be ignored.”

ESPN’s broadcast team, and specifically play-by-play man Roxy Bernstein, seemed to interpret this to mean that because the ball was not in play when the court storm began, no technical foul should have been awarded. But that doesn’t mean the fans didn’t “interfere with play.” UCLA’s TJ Leaf was attempting to inbound the ball as both fans and players encroached on the court. If there had been time on the clock when this occurred, by rule, UCLA probably should have been awarded one free throw, and then the ball with the appropriate amount of time back on the clock.

But here’s the thing: There was no time on the clock when the pandemonium kicked off. At least not at the moment of the premature court storm. The clock above the basket showed 0.0, and the red backboard light went on, signalling the game was over:

The fans weren’t the only ones who thought it was over either. UCLA’s Lonzo Ball put his head down in dejection and didn’t even see the inbounds pass from Leaf, which bounced out of bounds. Oregon players streamed off the bench to the far corner of the floor to pile on Brooks. That pile became the epicenter of the court storm. Meanwhile, ushers filed onto the court to extend a rope that is meant to protect the two teams and coaching staff’s from the fans. It wouldn’t have been fair to penalize Oregon for an error that, at its root, came down to the clock operator who failed to halt the game clock before it reached 0.0.

Here’s another view from the stands. Unless you zero in on the refs, it certainly looks like the game is over:

In the end, it wasn’t really Oregon fans or bench players who interfered with play. It was the clock operator, who led those fans and players to believe that it was okay to rush onto the floor. So as much as UCLA fans might argue otherwise, it wouldn’t have been right to penalize Oregon for its fans’ behavior.