Big Ten admits officiating mistake on wild ending to Rutgers vs Ohio State

Tanner Holden had a signature moment in his first Big Ten matchup Thursday night when his buzzer-beating three-pointer sent Ohio State past Rutgers at Value City Arena. At least, it appeared that way.

The Big Ten admitted the referees missed some key calls in the lead-up to the shot — which likely shouldn’t have counted.

Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell confirmed the league reached out to him Friday to acknowledge the officiating mistakes. As it turns out, Bruce Thornton stepped out of bounds as the Scarlet Knights trapped him against the sideline before he found Holden for the eventual game-winning assist. On top of that, Holden actually stepped out of bounds and didn’t re-establish before catching the pass.

Pikiell said his team can’t dwell on the error, though. He’s already looking ahead to Rutgers’ next opponent.

“I spoke to the Big Ten offices and they acknowledged that mistakes were made,” Pikiell told the Asbury Park Press’ Jerry Carino Friday afternoon. “We’re going to move forward to Seton Hall now.”

Later Friday night, the Big Ten released a statement after reviewing the play and said the should have been stopped and the ball, therefore, ruled dead.

“The officiating crew that was on the court is one of the best in the country, but unfortunately missed the call,” the statement read. “The Big Ten Conference takes officiating very seriously and has addressed the matter with both member institutions and the officiating crew. Additionally, the conference will be providing added education and rule reinforcement to our basketball officials.”

It was a wild scene to end Thursday night’s matchup. With his team up 66-64, Rutgers’ Caleb McConnell missed a free throw with five seconds left, setting up a scramble to the other end of the court. That’s when Holden caught Thornton’s pass to set up his three-pointer to give the Buckeyes a 67-66 victory at Value City Arena. It was Holden’s lone bucket of the game.

Zed Key led the way for Ohio State Thursday night with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with a game-high 12 rebounds. He continued to impress early on this season as he entered the matchup against Rutgers as the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder. Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State’s leading scorer, also added 13 points to the effort.