The NCAA has issued an apology after the 3-point lines in the Portland regional were found to be different distances at the top of the key.
In a statement, the NCAA addressed the error, which had previously gone unnoticed in four regional semifinals on Friday and Saturday.
"At the conclusion of tonight’s game and practice in Portland, the NCAA will be measuring all court lines and markings on the court at the Moda Center,” they said in a statement. “While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games.
“We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men’s or women’s tournament games. The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner."
Both NC State and Texas opted to play with the floor as is, as getting the floor re-taped would have taken more than an hour, according to the two head coaches. The game likely would have lost its window on ABC.
"At first, [Texas coach] Vic [Schaefer] was hesitant about it," NC State coach Wes Moore said. "And then he finally said, you know, 'I didn't want to wait an hour or something to play the game.' I was ready to get going. But Vic probably figured out, you know what? This line down here is what we're used to. That line down there isn't.
"And if you'll look, I think we shot the ball better on the other end both games, because that's the normal line. But I'm not going to blame it on that. I mean, these kids, like I said, they shoot so far behind it sometimes nowadays, who knows where the line is?"
Even still, Moore said he wished he “hadn’t known” about the discrepancy.
According to tracking done by ESPN Stats & Information, teams during the five games in the Portland regionals shot 29% from the line that was too short as compared to 33% from the standard 3-point line.
Six of NC State’s nine 3-pointers on Sunday were from the standard line, including Aziaha James who went 5-of-5 and finished with a career-high seven 3’s. Players were not made aware of the discrepancy until postgame.
"At the end of the day, we had already played a game on it," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. "We both won. So, we just decided to play."
But with the NCAA declining to comment on distance and measurement of the 3-point line, the coaches were left to explain the situation.
"Well, I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, 'Only in women's basketball,'" Schaefer said. "I mean, it's a shame, really, that it even happened. But it is what it is."
The floor is set to be professionally measured on Monday ahead of No. 1 Southern California’s matchup with No. 3 UConn.
