Egregious Foul Called on Vermont At End of Half vs. Marquette

The Catamounts caught a bad break just before the halftime buzzer in their first round game against the Golden Eagles.

A head-scratching foul call on No. 15 Vermont came just before the end of the first half of the first round men’s NCAA tournament game against No. 2 Marquette. 

With the Catamounts trailing 38–30 and time winding down in the first half, the Golden Eagles raced out on a fast break. Though Marquette had a clear two-on-one opportunity, the alley-oop pass to forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper appeared just out of reach as his attempt to finish the shot clanged off the bottom of the rim. 

However, the officials interjected and called a foul on Vermont’s Aaron Deloney, who seemed to lose track of the airborne Prosper. A replay of the call appeared to clearly show that Deloney didn’t even touch Prosper, but the officiating crew blew the whistle anyway.

What a joke! There was absolutely no contact on this foul called on Vermont. The defensive player wasn’t within a foot of the offensive player who contorted himself in the air to make a play on the ball. This was called by the trailing ref who was screened by the play. pic.twitter.com/3ccRcghccE

— Chris Gustafson (@ChrisGustafson4) March 17, 2023

Thankfully for the Catamounts, Prosper converted on just one of two free throws before the end of the half to extend Marquette’s lead out to 39–30, keeping Vermont’s upset bid alive for the time being.