On Thursday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights thanks to a buzzer-beating three-point shot from Ohio State guard Tanner Holden. It was an absolutely incredible play in a huge moment, but it caused quite a bit of controversy because it appears the shot shouldn’t have counted. And a day later, the Big Ten seems to have agreed the officials made a mistake.
Right before hitting the three-point shot that ultimately gave the Buckeyes a 67-66 win over the Scarlet Knights, Holden stepped out of bounds and was the first person to touch the ball before fully establishing himself back in bounds. As a result, he should have been ruled out of bounds and Rutgers should have won the game.
Ohio State's Tanner Holden sinks a three at the horn to stave off the upset bid from Rutgers.https://t.co/o8yHPEtZlG
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) December 9, 2022
According to Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell, the Big Ten Conference admitted that officials Larry Scirotto, Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers made mistakes on this play.
“I spoke to the Big Ten offices and they acknowledged that mistakes were made,” Steve Pikiell told the Asbury Park Press on Friday night. “We’re going to move forward to Seton Hall now.”
Rutgers has a chance to bounce back from the unfortunate officiating blunder with a game against Seton Hall on Sunday.
