Seconds Lasting for Days as Bruins Ponder ‘What if?’

It took Michigan 45 minutes of playing time to outlast UCLA, 86-84, in the second round of the NCAA West Regional tournament in Tucson on Sunday.

It took much longer to figure out how it happened.

And now it is taking another day to get it out of the systems of basketball fans across America.

All anyone cared to discuss Monday were the final 9.6 seconds that decided the outcome of what is being called this season’s most dramatic NCAA tournament game.

The fixation is such that the tale of the videotape brought to light new controversies even as old ones subsided. And by Monday, the furor over what had transpired at the University of Arizona’s McKale Center had not calmed.

But this much is clear:

The top-seeded Wolverines will play George Washington in the West Regional semifinals Friday in Seattle, and the vanquished Bruins will play pick-up games in the Wooden Center until the 1993-94 season.

Playing the nation’s third-ranked team, UCLA (22-11) took a 19-point first-half lead, then squandered it and trailed by eight with 3 minutes 48 seconds to play.

The Bruins, who shot 70% during the first half, failed to make a basket in the last 2:46, but somehow rallied to force the game into overtime. They didn’t score one basket in the five-minute overtime, their final point coming when Rodney Zimmerman made one of two free throws with 48 seconds to play to tie the score, 84-84. But UCLA still had a chance until Michigan’s final play.

The play.

With 9.6 seconds on the game clock, and seven on the shot clock, Michigan called a timeout to design a play for Jalen Rose, a 6-foot-8 guard who had 12 points. Rose got the ball as Coach Steve Fisher had diagramed in the huddle, and the ball left his hands with one second left on the shot clock and about three left on the game clock.

Rose’s off-balance shot went off the backboard as the shot-clock horn sounded, hit part of the rim and bounced into teammate Jimmy King’s hands. King, a 6-5 guard, put the ball into the basket.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick wanted officials to view a tape of the play before deciding to count King’s basket. Because he misunderstood the rules, Harrick thought Michigan had been guilty of a shot-clock violation on Rose’s shot.

After conferring at the scorer’s table, the officials declared that Rose’s shot had been released before the shot clock ran out. They ruled no violation and Michigan had a two-point lead with 1.5 seconds to play.

The Bruins tried a full-length pass from David Boyle to Ed O’Bannon for the winning basket, but to no avail. O’Bannon spun and launched a shot from beyond the top of the key as Michigan’s Chris Webber kept a hand in his face. The ball bounced off of the backboard as the game ended.

And the controversy began anew.

Harrick, who has led the Bruins to five consecutive NCAA tournaments, wanted to see a replay of Rose’s shot before talking to reporters. He watched it at regular speed, but said he was not satisfied that anyone knew whether the shot clock had elapsed or not.

It was not until much later that Harrick was satisfied that the right call had been made. He finally saw a slow-motion version of the play, and realized he was wrong.

Part of the confusion was Harrick’s doing. He was fuzzy on the technical rule governing such situations.

Speaking Sunday night, Harrick said: “It’s too big not to know. The game was too big not to check. Our players quit playing. (They) thought the shot clock went off. I have my life on these games. I just want to know for sure.”

Harrick said Monday that he thought he had known the rule, but had not.

“I guarantee you, football coaches don’t know any of the rules,” he said. “The rules are very intricate. I thought I knew the rule, and I was very, very close to knowing the rule. I’m sure Steve Fisher (Michigan coach) didn’t know the rule.”

Overlooked in the clock controversy was how King had gained prime position to make the winning put-back. The replay shows the 201-pound King elbowing Tyus Edney, 5-9 and 145 pounds, out of the way.

“I don’t think there is any question that he got pushed out of the way,” Harrick said.

Edney said he was fouled on the play, but that he experienced similar circumstances all season, so he did not press the issue. Despite being the shortest starter by seven inches, Edney had seven rebounds with 10 points and six assists. Edney had blocked out King in an effort to get his eighth rebound when he was knocked away.

The replay showed two other questionable calls in Michigan’s favor, but overall Harrick praised the officiating.

Most in Westwood knew that any official’s decision had less bearing on the outcome than Michigan’s resolve to overcome a 19-point deficit. And most of the credit went to Webber, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds. He made 12 of 16 shots.

“We couldn’t handle him,” Harrick said. “We couldn’t get a rebound. He’s awesome.”

For Edney, who has emerged as one of the country’s best point guards, Sunday’s game will be remembered as one of lost opportunities. After stealing the ball at mid-court near the end of regulation, Edney drove toward the basket with 6-9 Juwan Howard between him and a last-second, winning layup.

But Edney chose to pass to O’Bannon, who was not expecting the ball. King came from behind to steal it, and the score was tied, 77-77, after regulation.

Had UCLA somehow won in regulation, they would be discussing Edney’s wisdom today.

Instead, the talk focused on the shot clock.