Virginia Tech's cluelessness nets Penn State a free basket
The easiest basket Shep Garner will ever score became possible because of the cluelessness of everyone around him.
When Penn State's Peyton Banks missed his first free throw late in the first half of the Nittany Lions' 61-58 victory over Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, almost everyone on the floor reacted as though it was a two-shot foul. Four Hokies lined on the blocks made no attempt to grab the rebound. Banks bowed his head and slapped his teammate's palm in preparation for a second shot. Even ESPN's announcers kept yammering away as though there was a break in the action.
The only person in the whole gym who seemed to realize Banks had only received a 1-and-1 was Garner, who corralled the rebound and went straight up with it for a basket that could serve as the very definition of an uncontested layup. Even he then appeared to question himself, however, as he walked back to his original position on the block as though his basket wasn't going to count.
The inattentiveness of everyone on the floor is especially bizarre because the rule in question is among the simplest in college basketball.
Non-shooting fouls only result in two free throws for an opposing player if the guilty team has committed 10 or more fouls in the half. Adam Smith's foul that sent Banks to the free throw line was only Virginia Tech's ninth team foul of the first half, so the Penn State forward needed to make the first free throw in order to receive a second.
Video of the play is going to look especially ugly in the Virginia Tech film room Thursday because the two points in question could have made a difference in the game's outcome. Penn State never led by more than seven the whole game and was in front by just a basket or two for most of the final 10 minutes.
(Thanks for the video, @cjzero)
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
