Listen: Alabama broadcasters go off on controversial call vs. Notre Dame

Down the stretch of Alabama’s NCAA Tournament game against Notre Dame, a controversial foul call on forward Juwan Gary led to boos across the arena in San Diego, California. However, the chorus held nothing compared to what Alabama radio broadcasters had to say on the local call.

Seeing the incident at midcourt, where Juwan Gary intercepted a pass from Trey Wertz to Paul Atkinson, they heard the whistle and assumed like most that a foul went against Notre Dame. However, upon realizing official Tim Clougherty called the foul on Alabama, chaos ensued.

Alabama radio announcers WENT OFF

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“Poked away by Gary and he is held on the play,” play-by-play broadcaster Chris Stewart began. “Oh wait a minute, that’s terrible! They just called a foul on Gary who was clearly held by the Irish!

“Tim Clougherty with the call of the game and it is garbage. That is awful from Tim Clougherty. A horrendous call from the referee that we haven’t seen in forever – and thank God that’s the case. Good grief. A tremendous call favoring the Irish right here, totally botched by the official Tim Clougherty. Terrible. Nate Oats looking at Doug Shows, and that is a game-changer right there.”

“Not only is that the wrong call, that was intentional,” color commentator and former Alabama player Bryan Passink responded. “He grabbed him. And an easy layup or intentional foul call, two shots and the ball for Alabama. And they give it back to Notre Dame, what an unbelievably horrible call.”

“Except from that guy, it’s not,” Stewart chimed in at the end of the clip.

Alabama went on to lose the game 78-64 and has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. While the controversial call did not help, the Crimson Tide struggled on offense and defense throughout the game after Jahvon Quinerly’s injury.

More on Alabama’s loss

Cormac Ryan notched a new career-high in Notre Dame‘s 78-64 upset victory over six-seed Alabama in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64. The junior sharpshooter scored 29 points en route to the upset, nailing seven 3-pointers in the process.

Alabama couldn’t keep up with Notre Dame’s pace in the second half, where the Fighting Irish stretched a five-point lead to double-digits thanks to a five-minute scoring drought for Alabama midway through the final half.

The Crimson Tide would be able to cut the lead to single digits and gain momentum toward the end of regulation, but Notre Dame stifled the Alabama offense and completed the upset.