PORTLAND, Ore. -- As the Elite Eight game between NC State and Texas was about to tip off on Sunday, NCAA officials realized the court at Moda Center in Portland was asymmetrical. The head coaches were made aware of the situation as their players were warming up and they had to make a decision on how to proceed.
The court had been like this all week, but nobody seemed to notice until Sunday. Officials told both coaches there would be an hour delay to get the court fixed or they could play as is.
"Yeah, I wish I hadn't had known, to be honest with you," NC State coach Wes Moore said after his team picked up a 76-66 victory. "It was a tough call because it is a little bit of difference. But you're also, like I said, looking at over an hour delay before they could get here."
One of the biggest things Moore took into consideration was the game being on national television.
"You're also losing probably the ABC window. That's a big deal to be on ABC," he added. "We've been fortunate to be on it a couple of times the last couple of years. But it's a big deal."
Baylor coach Nicki Collen noted her frustration on social media. The Bears were eliminated by No. 1 seed USC on Saturday.
Guess that’s why we shot it better in the 2nd half… correct 3 pt distance!! FYI with 8 teams at one site you get so little prep time on the main court and your focus is on game planning and simply getting shots up!
— Nicki Collen (@NickiCollen) March 31, 2024
Moore and Texas coach Vic Schaefer spent some time measuring the court with their feet before tipoff. Moore said he wasn't too comfortable with the fact that it had taken him out of his typical pregame routine, but overall he feels it all worked out well enough and nobody got an unfair advantage.
Players were not aware of the situation, and it especially didn't seem to matter much to Aziaha James. The NC State junior guard finished the day with 27 points while hitting seven 3-pointers -- a new NCAA Tournament high for the program. She scored five of those 3-pointers during the first half, when her team was shooting on the deeper arc.
"We were just there to play our game. That's it," James said.
The mistake affected both teams equally because, per usual, they switched sides at halftime. However, it is still an oversight that should not have happened in the first place. While Moore made his decision to play the game relatively quickly, he said Schaefer was more "hesitant" about it.
"Well, I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues that would say, only in women's basketball," Schaefer said. "I mean, it's a shame, really, that it even happened. But it is what it is."
The Texas coach made sure to say his team losing did not have to do with the asymmetrical court, but it was still a decision he wished he wouldn't have had to make.
"Well, our kids had already warmed up. It would have been at minimum an hour because they were going to have to bring somebody in from outside, and the potential of losing our window on ABC," Schaefer said. "If I would have done it, I'd have been the only one in the room that wanted to do it. And, again, at the end of the day, when we went out there and analyzed it, it just -- at the end of the day, we had already played a game on it. We both won. So we just decided to play."
The NCAA acknowledged the mistake during the game by releasing a statement. Later, NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman said the vendor apologized for the mistake, but they were still going to investigate how such a mistake could happen in the first place.
"The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games," Holzman said. "We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men's or women's tournament games.The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner."
The court is expected to be fixed before the Elite Eight game between USC and UConn on Monday evening.
