Big East commissioner John Marinatto issued a statement 40 minutes after St. John’s defeated Rutgers to advance in the Big East tournament admitting that the referees made two vital mistakes which cost Rutgers a chance at a final possession.
“The Big East Conference acknowledges that two separate officiating errors occurred at the conclusion of the St. John’s vs. Rutgers game,” he said, referring to the travel and stepping out of bounds. “Both missed violations should have caused the game clock to stop and a change of possession to occur prior to the end of the game. Neither error is reviewable or correctable under NCAA rules.”
If you happened to miss what happened, check out our recap and video.
The admission will come as little consolation to Rutgers fans, who likely feel pretty jobbed tonight.
St. John’s Justin Brownlee, who was the player who traveled and ran out of bounds, admitted that he made a mistake but was relieved it didn’t hurt his team.
“I just let my emotions get to me. I was just trying to throw it up so the time would expire,” he said. “Unfortunately I threw it too early. Fortunately time did expire and we came up with the win.”