The NCAA has egg on its face.
Just before tipoff between Texas and NC State in the women’s Elite Eight, the NCAA was informed that there was a discrepancy between the distances of the 3-point lines on either side of the March Madness court at the Moda Center in Portland .
The news was first reported by ESPN before the start of the game, which went on as scheduled with head coaches Wes Moore and Vic Schaefer agreeing to play so as not to delay the game, the outlet reported.
The NCAA confirmed this in a statement released during halftime between Texas and NC State, although it provided few details on how the problem arose in the first place.
“The NCAA was informed today that the three-point lines on the court at the Moda Center in Portland are not the same distances,” the statement said. “Both head coaches were informed of the discrepancy and elected to play a full game on the field as is, rather than correcting the field and delaying the game. The field will be repaired before tomorrow’s game in Portland.
Portland is one of two regional sites for this year’s women’s tournament, the other being MVP Arena in Albany.
What the NCAA hasn’t revealed is how the error happened or why it took so long for anyone to notice.
Games took place there all weekend and photos of The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach appeared to show that the gap to the 3-point line had existed in UConn’s 53-45 win over Duke on Saturday night.
ESPN reported that the field was the same one the NCAA used all weekend for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.
“Wes Moore and Vic Schaefer both came out there to take a look,” ESPN’s Courtney Lyle told viewers. “They asked the NCAA to measure and they did. They simply measured from the baseline to the top of the 3-point line and found that there was a gap from one side of the floor to the other.
Cameras captured both coaches examining the floors, with one clip showing Moore placing one foot in front of the other in a straight line to determine distance.
It’s still unclear exactly how big the gap between the 3-point lines was.
The 3-point line in women’s basketball is supposed to be 22 feet, 1¾ inches from the basket, which it was moved to before the 2021-22 season.
The NC State vs. Texas game was the fifth of six scheduled at the Moda Center over the holiday weekend.
New York Post
