After botched flagrant foul, Arizona-Duke officials don't advance to Final Four

The officiating in Duke's win over Arizona has come under fire

There were 46 fouls called in Duke's Sweet 16 victory over Arizona. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

How bad was the officiating in Duke's 100-93 victory over Arizona in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament?

Bad enough that two of the three officials were not selected to work the Final Four.

Officials in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament are evaluated after each round and advance to the next round based on their scores. The scores for Lee Cassell and Michael Greenstein did not meet the bar, and both are done for the tournament. Keith Kimble was given solid scores and will work the Final Four in San Antonio.

Here are the officials who advanced to the 2025 Final Four. They were recommended by Chris Rastatter, the national coordinator of officiating:

Roger Ayers
James Breeding
AJ Desai
Courtney Green
Ronald Groover
Michael Irving
Keith Kimble
Terry Oglesby
Tony Padilla
Doug Shows
Doug Sirmons

Irving and Desai are the two standby officials. It's surprising not to see Kipp Kissinger on that list. He has consistently been one of the best officials in college basketball. But college basketball fans are no doubt relieved that Cassell and Greenstein are no longer involved.

This will be Sirmons' 10th Final Four, and he is widely regarded as one of the best officials in the game.

2025 Final Four Officials:

Roger Ayers
James Breeding
AJ Desai
Courtney Green
Ronald Groover
Michael Irving
Keith Kimble
Terry Oglesby
Tony Padilla
Doug Shows
Doug Sirmons

— OfficiatingObserver17 (@RefObserver17) March 31, 2025

Arizona-Duke officiating debacle

The Arizona-Duke Sweet 16 game featured 46 fouls — 24 on Arizona and 22 on Duke — and 50 free throws. There was no consistency in the calls, with multiple obvious fouls being ignored, while soft, touch fouls were whistled.

And the rules weren't consistently applied. A flagrant 1 foul was called on Arizona when Jaden Bradley pulled Duke's Kom Knueppel to the floor in a "hook-and-hold" play. Just minutes later, Duke's Patrck Ngongba II clearly pulled Arizona's Henri Veesaar to the ground, and should have been assessed a flagrant 1 foul. After reviewing the play, the officials left it as a common foul.

The non-call left fans and media members baffled.

Such a big point of emphasis a couple years ago. It’s disappeared.

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) March 28, 2025

It is not an easy job and these officials are under a lot of pressure and scrutiny. It’s also much easier to make calls from the couch with replays.

But, they had the monitor and the opportunity to review that clear hook and hold. There really isn’t an excuse. Textbook Flagrant

— OfficiatingObserver17 (@RefObserver17) March 28, 2025

How is this a common foul when he hooked him and swung him to the ground lmao duke getting bailed out again pic.twitter.com/WFOOHAe5ZZ

— John (@iam_johnw) March 28, 2025

I'm not sure I've seen a worse reffed game in a while. These #Duke #Arizona officials are ALL over the place. Wildly inconsistent. Phantom calls. Blatant no-calls. Etc.

— Justin Kinney (@justinr_kinney) March 28, 2025

Here's the Final Four schedule for the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament:

Saturday, April 5

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn, 3:09 p.m. PT/MST - CBS

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston, 5:49 p.m. PT/MST - CBS