I thought Hess did a great job in the UL/Wash game tonight

[drothamel]

Two plays that look the same never are. Look at your examples, one occurs in the middle of a game (so to speak), and one occurs at the very end of a game. This will have an effect on both the players and the officials. If I remember correctly, the Bucknell/KU foul occured as a player was going towards the basket, maybe even in the paint? That also is different from the Arizona fouls, which occured at midcourt. "Playing the ball" doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the call, as JRut said. I saw both calls, and to me, they both looked like good calls. Actaully, I thought that the official in the Arizona game passed on some contact before he called the foul, which may be why he called it the way he did. He saw the contact, watched the play develop and because of the advantage, TWEET! Just like they tell us to. All I can say is don't get the impression that every play is is the same, even when it may look that way at first glance.