Kenny Payne on controversial goaltending call vs. Syracuse: 'I don't expect us to get breaks'

For a brief moment, it appeared the Louisville–Syracuse game on Wednesday night was going to be headed to overtime. But Louisville’s Kaleb Glenn was called for goaltending on a shot with less than four seconds remaining (3.8 seconds). Syracuse was there for the putback even it was called a block, but still, the call by officials upset Louisville fans and their head coach Kenny Payne.

After the game, the Cardinals headman was clearly frustrated.

Payne said officials told him, “it was definitely a goal-tend” at the end of the game via Eric Crawford of WDRB. “But look,” Payne said. “I don’t expect us to get breaks. I expect us to make our breaks. But there were enough plays within that game that we should still have come away with a victory.”

Here’s a brief clip of what happened in the final seconds in case you missed it.

Here's the sequence where Skyy Clark hits a three to tie the game at 92. Syracuse comes right back down and Kaleb Glenn is called for goaltending, which gives Syracuse a go-ahead basket for a 94-92 win. Cuse was there for the putback if it was ruled a block, but still. You look. pic.twitter.com/AvaN1UQCEz

— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) February 8, 2024

Syracuse’s Chris Bell erupted for 30 points. The Orange had four other players score in double figures, with star sophomore Judah Mintz pumping in 21 points on 6-12 shooting from the field. Bell was scorching hot from beyond-the-arc, drilling 8 of 10 of his threes.

Louisville got a big-time performance from Skyy Clark (23 points), who hit 50 percent of his threes (4 of 8), while also dishing out five assists and four steals. The Cardinals had three more players in double figures (Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Mike James, and Tre White). Huntley-Hatfield (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Tre White (17 points, 12 rebounds) both tallied double doubles. Ty Laur Johnson also stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points and six assists.

Syracuse stretched their lead to six points with 2:25 remaining in the contest, after J.J. Starling connected on all three of his free throw attempts. That pushed the lead to 87-81. Louisville would eventually battle back in the final minutes and Skyy Clark even connected on a game-tying three pointer with five seconds left, tying it up at 92-92.

Then in the closing seconds, Syracuse guard Quadir Copeland took it right down at the other end, connecting on the game-winning layup after Louisville’s Kaleb Glenn was called for a goaltend with 3.8 seconds left. It likely wouldn’t have mattered in the end, though, since Syracuse had a player right there for the easy putback, even it had been ruled a block.

The Orange won 94-92. Following the win, Syracuse improved to 15-8 overall and 6-6 in the ACC. Louisville dropped to 7-16 and 2-10 overall.