SEC admits to officiating mistake in Arkansas-Missouri game Wednesday

The SEC has admitted to a costly officiating mistake in the contest between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Missouri Tigers on Wednesday.

To illustrate, Missouri defender D’Moi Hodge drew a controversial charge on Arkansas’ Davonte Davis, which was reviewed and upheld, and led to a pair of free throws for Hodge’s teammate Kobe Brown that put the game away for the Tigers.

While it doesn’t mean much to the Razorbacks now, the SEC has taken the blame regarding the call, stating that it was an error on the replay center’s side.

SEC officiating statement on Arkansas at Missouri #SECMBB game on Jan. 18: pic.twitter.com/XWOZj9YCqe

— SEC Officiating (@SECOfficiating) January 19, 2023

“With 43.7 second remaining in the second half of the Arkansas at Missouri men’s basketball game on January 18, the officials called a player control would against an Arkansas player that came into contact with a Missouri defender who was inside the restricted area arc by rule,” started the SEC statement. “By rule, the location on the player in relation to the restricted area arc is reviewable in the last two minutes of a contest. When the officials on-site went to review the play, the video replay center incorrectly communicated to them that the play was not reviewable. Therefore, the play stood as called on the floor.

“The SEC Collaborative Replay Process has provided accurate and efficient outcomes since it was implemented in 2017. All on-court and replay officials are evaluated on an ongoing basis. Performance evaluations are used to determine game assignment, SEC Tournament, and post-season tournament assignments. The SEC continues to evaluate, refine and improve the SEC officiating process.”

Alas, the statement from the SEC won’t change the record for Arkansas, or the celebration for Missouri. Still, it has to sting a little bit for Razorbacks faithful, knowing how things could’ve been oh-so different.

Eric Musselman declines to discuss officiating in Missouri loss

Cotninuing, the biggest story last night for Arkansas should have been their fifth loss in six gamesagainst Missouri in Columbia. However, plenty of people picked up on another narrative with the role the officials played in the game.

Still, during his postgame press conference, Eric Musselman nipped that in the bud with some very brief answers on the officiating when asked. At the end of the day, the Razorbacks will send in any footage they believe needs to be reviewed but, beyond that, his focus was on the outcome rather than any hint that the referees played a role in it.

“You (all) know I can’t talk about the officials. We send stuff in and we’re kind of tired of talking about it,” said Musselman. “I give Missouri credit. They beat us.”

It was more than just those who follow the Razorbacks and Tigers that noticed this trend in Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night. Overall, 56 fouls were called in the game with Arkansas taking the majority of those whistles with 33. Four Razorbacks fouled out over the course of the game, including three starters. That eventually led to 40 free throw attempts on the night by Missouri.

With that said, Musselman continued to deflect any questions about officiating following the loss. With frustration mounting in Fayetteville with Arkansas having lost four straight, Musselman is more worried about correcting what’s going on with his team rather than what’s going on with the SEC’s officiating crews.

“I’m not gonna comment on the officials,” Musselman said. “Again, it’s our responsibility to send clips in that we think are worthy.”

“Look, Missouri beat us and that’s what happened tonight,” said Musselman.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.