No. 6 Iowa State and No. 11 Pittsburgh had a delayed start to their first-round game in the NCAA tournament caused by a crooked rim at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Midwest Region game followed a wild comeback from No. 4 Xavier to survive an upset bid by No. 14 Kennesaw State. During the victory, with less than a minute left on the clock, Xavier’s Souley Boum missed a wide-open layup following a pass from teammate Colby Jones.
It was one of several crucial shots that didn’t fall for Xavier, who won the game despite the missed field goals. But the troubles may have continued into the following game considering Iowa State was not able to warm up as expected.
UPDATE: The NCAA issued a statement noting that Iowa State was offered additional warmup time but declined.
Although NCAA tournament officials made sure that the rim was level before the game finally tipped off, Pittsburgh was able to warm up before the game.
The Cyclones, however, were not. When the game finally started, Iowa State missed each of their first twelve attempts from the field and did not make any of their field goals until over ten games of game time had passed.
All five of the starters for Pittsburgh made field goals before a single player on Iowa State was able to connect. After trailing 21-2, the Cyclones went on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to 26-19.
While we don’t know if this was the reason why the Cyclones had such a slow start, the two teams will switch rims at the end of the first half.
If the Panthers also struggle to connect from the field, it’s time that we all start to raise some eyebrows about whether or not the crooked rim was ever legitimately fixed.
Either way, however, it seems a bit unfair that Pittsburgh was able to warm up before the game but Iowa State was not given the same opportunity before tipoff.
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