In the Nebraska basketball team's heartbreaking loss to Michigan on Tuesday night, there were plenty of "what ifs" that could have led to a victory. Among those was a situation that changed the game with a little over a minute to go.
While Hoiberg was quick to blame his own team for letting the game slip through their fingers, he was clearly not happy about a basket the Wolverines got that was the eventual winning basket. On the play, Sam Hoiberg moved in front of his man and seemed to get set, but he was plowed into and fell backwards. Despite something that looked like a pretty good collision, the officials failed to correctly call the charge.
It's not hard to imagine that had the refs used the correct judgment, it would have been a Michigan turnover, and the end of the game would have taken on a different feel. For his part, the Nebraska head coach doesn't know what could have been done differently to get the correct call.
Fred Hoiberg questions Big Ten officials after missed charge call late vs Michigan
"I thought Sam made a hell of a play," Hoiberg said. "Getting his feet outside the paint, getting established for a couple of seconds and taking one in the chest. But unfortunately they didn't give us the call."
"I'm not sure what you're supposed to do in that situation," he added.
For their part, Nebraska fans were also confused about how that call didn't come. Especially when considering that it felt like the foul calls were very one-sided. When the smoke cleared, Michigan had 23 free-throw attempts, and the Huskers had 4.
Hoiberg did point out that without Braden Frager (who hurt his ankle last week) and Rienk Mast (who came down with the flu ahead of the game), his team was both undermanned and might have run out of steam.
There were also chances for Nebraska to control its own destiny if it hadn't missed several easy layups. Still, the Huskers have to wonder why they were asked to overcome being out two of their six best players, an excellent Michigan team, and the officials, all in one night.