Here’s a statistic to ponder: Going into this weekend, nearly 60 percent of Southeastern Conference games this season were decided by nine points or less. Nearly one in every four league games came down to the final possession.
This makes for compelling basketball drama and … a greater likelihood of controversial calls.
As long-time SEC referee and later supervisor of Atlantic Coast Conference officials John Clougherty put it, “When I was supervising, I was hoping for 20-plus-point games.”
Kentucky knows first hand about SEC competitiveness and the possibility of controversy. Of UK’s first eight league games, six had a final margin of eight or fewer points.