How poor was the officiating in Duke’s 100-93 win over Arizona in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16?
It was bad enough that none of the three referees were chosen to officiate an Elite Eight game this weekend.
In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, officials are evaluated after each round and selected for advancement based on their scores. Lee Cassell, Michael Greenstein, and Keith Kimbell did not meet the required standard, and as a result, all three are out for the remainder of the tournament.
Here are the officials selected for the Elite Eight:
- Jeffrey Anderson
- Steven Anderson
- Roger Ayers Jr
- James Breeding
- Don Daily
- AJ Desai
- Courtney Green
- Ron Groover
- Michael Irving
- Gregory Nixon
- Terry Oglesby
- Doug Sirmons
It’s notable that Kipp Kissinger is missing from the list, as he has been one of the top officials in college basketball. But many college basketball fans are likely relieved that Cassell, Greenstein, and Kimbell are no longer involved.
The Arizona-Duke game saw 46 fouls—24 on Arizona and 22 on Duke—and 50 free throws. The calls were inconsistent, with clear fouls ignored and soft fouls being called. The rules weren’t applied uniformly either. A flagrant 1 was assessed on Arizona when Jaden Bradley fouled Duke’s Kom Knueppel in a “hook-and-hold” move, but just minutes later, Duke’s Patrck Ngongba II clearly pulled Arizona’s Henri Veesaar to the ground. That incident should have been flagged as a flagrant 1, but after review, it was called a common foul.
The lack of a flagrant call left both fans and media puzzled..
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