Samford coach ‘not faulting’ refs’ vital nasty call

• Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Personnel WriterMar 22, 2024, 02:36 AM ET

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  Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer who covers the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has actually covered the Cardinals since 2012, joining ESPN in 2013. He belongs to the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University. You can follow him by means of Twitter @joshweinfuss.

SALT LAKE CITY– Samford coach Bucky McMillan didn’t wish to state whether officials were wrong when they called a foul on A.J. Staton-McCray after he tried to obstruct a dunk by Kansas guard Nic Timberlake.What the fourth-year coach did state after 13th-seeded Samford disappointed disturbing fourth-seeded Kansas 93-89 on Thursday was that if the block was tidy, the Bulldogs would’ve been going the other method, down a point, 5 on 4, with a chance to go to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. “That’s how close the game was,”McMillan said.”That’s how well our guys played. What was the optimum we were down? We were down by 22. We’re going to have the ball there with a great opportunity.” It is what it is. “Editor’s Picks 2 Associated

Throughout his postgame news conference, a dejected

McMillan bewared not to lay blame on the officials.”I have seen the play, “he stated.”I believed A.J. made an extraordinary play on

it, you know what I’m saying? I’m not faulting the call. Some individuals can see it different ways. But I was truly happy with our guys’ capability to go make a play. “Timberlake said he was “definitely” fouled on the play.And Kansas coach Costs Self sidestepped talking about the actual nasty when asked if he had an excellent view of the dunk

.”I thought Nic assaulted the basket well,”Self stated.”He’s a better professional athlete than what a great deal of individuals believe. He attacked it strong, similar to he should.” Samford shot its method back into the game from cross country. The Bulldogs completed with 16 3-pointers, 10 more than the Jayhawks

, leading Self to state it was “impressive”that Kansas won in spite of the disparity from long variety. The Bulldogs struck eight 3-pointers throughout their return from 22 down, which began with about 16 minutes left.Samford was pesky for most of the game, using a full-court press on makes and misses out on that McMillan has made the identity of his team. It led to 7 takes, which developed into 15 points off turnovers.”That’s my very first experience with Bucky ball, “Self stated.”I ‘d as soon not play against it once again for a while. “It’s a hard game for us with really little depth. You have to play guys the entire game.

We knew it’s going to be like that. There’s simply never ever a break in the action where you can capture your breath.

“The Bulldogs could not compete with the Jayhawks’size. Kansas had 54 points in the paint, spearheaded by center Hunter Dickinson’s 19 points and 20 rebounds. He was one of 5 Jayhawks in double digits, led by K.J. Adams Jr.’s 20. The Bulldogs were led by Achor Achor’s 23 points and Jaden Campbell’s 18. Freshman Riley Allenspach had 15 on an unforeseen 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. He entered into the NCAA tournament having actually made 6-of-25 throughout the season.All of Allenspach’s threes came during Samford’s go to cut its deficit to one point.That led to the game-deciding have fun with 14.7 seconds left. Samford had come within one for the 2nd time in a period of five minutes. After the nasty call, Timberlake struck both totally free throws to extend the Jayhawks

‘advantage to 92-89. A 3-point attempt from Jermaine Marshall with about six seconds left fell short, and Kansas won a chase to the corner for the belongings. “I believe our guys truly thought they were going to win, “McMillan said. “I even felt at halftime, if you would have asked me, I was extremely confident we were going to win. Then when we sufficed, we had all the momentum, I thought we ‘d win.”When we didn’t win, I was stunned we didn’t win.”