March Madness: NCAA admits the 3-point lines are marked differently at the women's Portland regional
The 3-point lines appear to have been noticeably different for the first five regional games
A 3-point line discovery was made Sunday afternoon in Portland.
Before Sunday afternoon's Elite Eight game between NC State and Texas, NCAA tournament officials realized that the 3-point lines at the top of the arc were at different distances at each end of the court in Portland.
The same court has been used in Portland for four Sweet 16 games Friday and Saturday and the Elite Eight game on Sunday. The game between NC State and Texas was the fifth game of the six scheduled for the regional site, and staffers were seen taking measurements as the two teams warmed up.
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The game between the Wolfpack and Longhorns proceeded as scheduled without the 3-point line being adjusted just like the other five games did. NC State went on to a 77-66 upset to advance to the Final Four. NC State shot 9 of 18 from 3-point distance. Texas was 1 for 6.
As the game was at halftime, the NCAA released a statement acknowledging the error.
“The NCAA was notified today that the three-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance," a statement said. "The two head coaches were made aware of the discrepancy and elected to play a complete game on the court as is, rather than correcting the court and delaying the game. The court will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland.”
The NCAA then added to its statement after the game.
"At the conclusion of tonight's game and practice in Portland, the NCAA will be measuring all court lines and markings on the court at the Moda Center," it said. "While the NCAA's vendor has apologized for the error, we will now investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games.
"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."
You can clearly see the differences in the 3-point lines during Friday night's game between UConn and Duke. At least both teams spent half the game shooting at each basket.
"I hate to say this, but I have a lot of colleagues who would say, 'Only in women's basketball,'" Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after their loss, via The Athletic's Grace Raynor. "It's a shame."
It’s almost unfathomable how the mistake took four games to be noticed if Sunday afternoon was truly the first time the disparity became known. Once the court was measured, it was obvious to anyone watching that the distances at the top of the arc were different. Look at how much closer it is on the left half of the court than it is on the right.
It’s unclear just what the exact discrepancy is, though given that it’s visible on television, it’s clearly significant. The 3-point line is supposed to be at 22 feet, 1.75 inches and was moved back to the international line and men’s 3-point line ahead of the 2021-22 season.
