More struggling by NIT officials

[Nevadaref]

I do not mean to be slamming the guys working the NIT. I'm sure that they are normally quite good. But they have really had a tough week. I am not trying to nitpick their calls or judgment, but when they are missing obvious calls that we get right in HS games, I think there is room for criticism.

Situation:
2nd half of Notre Dame v. Purdue with 3:09 remaining and Notre Dame leading 58-54.

Notre Dame has the ball and is trying to run some clock. A player picks up his dribble out high maybe 10 feet above the top of the key. He attempts a hand-off to Chris Thomas who is cutting hard between the player holding the ball and the division line. The ball bounces off of Thomas's body and then bounces in the front court maybe a foot from the division line. The ball bounces up and breaks the plane of the division line, while keeping both feet on the floor in the front court, Thomas reaches over and grabs the ball.
The Trail official was working in the range of the 28 ft line and had to run back to cover the play. Unfortunately, he did not get there in time and had to guess. He called a backcourt violation, probably believing that the ball hit the division line when it bounced. The replays clearly showed that it did not.

PS I am not an ND fan, nor do I care who wins a game between two teams from the state of Indiana.