Skip to main content
Join

Referee blows out shoe during Creighton vs. Akron NCAA Tournament game

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•03/21/24
Shoe
TNT

In a normal college hoops game, the backup referee is rarely needed, but in the Creighton-Akron game Thursday afternoon, reserve official Adam Flore had to spring into action in an unusual way.

During the game, one of the officials on the floor, Kelly Pfeifer, blew out his shoe Zion Williamson style and needed to make a switch. Luckily, Flore was sitting sideline wearing shoes that could fit Pfeifer, so he gave them both up to his comrade to keep the game moving along.

You can watch the tournament live on Prime Video, add on your favorite channels and watch at home or on your phone and laptop at work!

Take a look at this wacky development:

It appears Pfeifer is fine in the new kicks. But now poor Adam has to sit without any shoes on for the rest of the afternoon — unless he wants to wear one shoe that’s completely blown to shreds.

You can understand why Pfeifer’s shoe struggled to keep up with the action, because Akron and Creighton were throwing in some fireballs in the first half. The Zips knocked down five early 3s before going cold while the Blue Jays converted 7/10 from downtown in the first half to give them a small lead.

That didn’t much change to start the second half, as Creighton went on to make nine of their first 13 shot attempts of the second half to turn what was a close game in the first half into a blowout in the second as they cruise towards the Round of 32.

As for the Blue Jays’ larger aspirations, they made the Elite Eight last year and are viable Final Four contenders agains this season thanks to the best trio in college hoops: Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner.

Those guys combine to average 53 points, 22 rebounds and 10 assists per game. That’s 66% of the team’s points, 58% of the team’s rebounds and 59% of the team’s assists coming from three players. In March, depth is mostly overrated. Ride the best players — and few teams have better stars than Creighton, even if the bench is very lackluster.

With 10 minutes left in the second half, those three had already combined for 47 points to lead the way. Once again, forget the poor depth, because their best guys are as good as anyone’s best guys. It’s looking good so far!