NCAA adds to statement following incorrect measurement of three-point line in Portland Regional
The NCAA already had one release this afternoon in regards to the incorrect distance of the three-point line on the court for the Portland Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they have added more to that statement as far as an investigation into the error.
Lynn Holzman, the Vice President of Women’s Basketball for the NCAA, shared the statement. She said in her addition that they are going to look into how the three-point line was so off. That announcement comes even after the vendor apologized for the mistake. They’ll also do the same for the remaining courts for their tournaments to ensure none of the others are incorrect.
“At the conclusion of tonight’s game and practice in Portland, the NCAA will be measuring all court lines and markings on the court at the Moda Center,” Holzman wrote. “While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will now investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games.”
“We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men’s or women’s tournament games. The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner,” Holzman concluded.
Again, the NCAA added this portion in following the original release after the finding of the discrepancy.
“The NCAA was notified today that the three-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance,” wrote Holzman originally. “The two head coaches were made aware of the discrepancy and elected to play a complete game on the court as is rather than correcting the court and delaying the game. The court will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland.”
People noticed the measuring of the lines ahead of Sunday’s matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 NC State. Officials used different forms of estimation and calculation to determine how off the separate lines were. In the end, everyone came together with the coaches and all sides agreed to play the contest anyway. The Wolfpack went on to win 76-66 over the Longhorns inside the Moda Center.
For reference, the teams shot a combined 10-24 (41.7%) from three. NC State dominated that number as they went 9-18 (50%), including a 7-9 (77.8%) outing from Aziaha James. Meanwhile, Texas shot just 1-9 (16.7%), which is well off their season-average at 36.4%.
It’s quite the story that a tournament event would even have such a blunder on its very field of play. Still, all the NCAA can do now is correct it while also making certain that none of their other courts have a similar flaw now that we’re on to the Final Four.