Watching Winthrop/NW State game tonight, and there was some sort of problem with the timing in the first half. CBS said it was a shot clock problem, but it seems like the game horn is broken now (they had a guy with an air horn at the table for both subs and end of half). About .5 sec difference between 0.0 clock and horn sounding.

If this happens at the end of the game, and there is a last second shot, I'm assuming the officials will go by clock or red light on review. However, what would you do if you didn't have the instant replay?

Well, March Madness has begun! Three weeks and sixty four games of idiotic announcers!

My understanding.
 

Unless the rule has been changed, the rule was that you went by the buzzer, not the clock in NCAA. Because I know the NBA makes sure that both clock and buzzer act in the same manner and time, but with all the NCAA arenas and gyms across the country some work differently.

Problem in this game, however, is that the horn has nothing to do with the clock.

I know but....
 

I know, it does not in many cases. That is why the rule is what it is. College rules say that the horn is what the officials should go by, not the clock. So I did not see the problem but they usually have audio for the official to make a proper decision.

Horn problems
 

A similar problem occurred in a game last evening, in which the horn kept sounding for many minutes until they just turned it off. Then they brought out the "horn in a can."

It was the Georgetown v. Arkansas game, and Ted Hillary was the R.

At first glance, it would seem to be a major problem to use something like this because the horn will definitely NOT coincide with the 00.00 on the game clock (at least rarely). So what to do?

By rule, and in this situation by common sense, any game that will be decided by the the final shot will be viewed on the court-side TV monitor. In fact, that is exactly what occurred, and then Ted Hillary declared Georgetown the winner.

Thanks for explaining this, Jim. I was watching that game, and my family was asking what was happening, and I couldn't tell them. The clocks on the TV (shot and game) were clearly not exactly right. One question: The announcer kept saying that the shot left the player's hand before the shot clock hit 0. I thought the rule was it had to hit the rim before 0. Is this another stupid announcer thing, or is it another not-very-experienced-me thing? Also, isn't it true that the clock has another second to go AFTER the 0 shows on the shot clock -- because it doesn't show the tenths? And so, the horn or buzzer will be a full second after the 0 shows on the shot clock?

If the horn goes off while the shot's in the air then the
ball has to hit the rim or it's a violation, even if
the defense grabs the airball. If it hits the rim then we
reset the shot clock.

The buzzer should go off as the clock hits zero but it is
possible for the clock to be stopped with zero seconds
showing and no buzzer. I've never seen this happen
but it is in the case book. The buzzer signals the end
of time. But there is no 1 second lag between 0 on a clock
and the buzzer/horn going off, I guess it could be any
amount of time less than a second but there's no way
to easily tell.

For it to be a shot clock try, the ball has to be out of the hands and must then hit the rim, flange, go in. NCAA 2-5-2 says that at the end of the second half or end of any extra period the officials shall use the replay equipment or television monitoring that is located on a designated court-side table (i.e. within approximately 3 to 12 feet of the playing court) when such equipment is avaiable to ascertain whether a try for field goal that will determine the outcome of a game (win, lose, tie) and is attempted at or near the expiration of the game clock was released before the sounding of the period ending horn.