ACC admits error

Duke received too much time

The Atlantic Coast Conference admitted Friday that a "timing error" occurred in Duke's 68-66 men's basketball win over Clemson on Thursday night.

"It's not a good day; we've got controversy,'' ACC coordinator of basketball officials John Clougherty said before issuing a formal statement admitting Duke got more time than it should have on the decisive play.

"The league acknowledges that a timing error was made in not starting the game clock at the correct time, when the ball was stolen by Clemson's Vernon Hamilton off the inbounded pass from Duke's Josh McRoberts," the statement read.

"We came to this conclusion after completing a review of the game film as well as internal conversations with the crew of officials, both head coaches and conference office staff. ... As with most league officiating matters, this situation has been handled and resolved internally."

Clemson's Hamilton scored with 5.0 seconds left to cut Duke's lead to 66-63.

Duke's McRoberts, throwing the ball inbounds, made an stunning, errant pass to Hamilton. The Tigers' sharpshooter caught the ball and shot, but the clock didn't begin until the ball was only a few feet above the rim.

After Hamilton's shot sailed through the nets, the clock continued to run to 1.8 seconds. In the last minute of each game, the clock should stop when the ball goes through the net. But it wasn't stopped on Hamilton's game-tying basket.

Officials studied the television monitor and determined 4.4 seconds were left when the ball went through the basket. But they were unaware the clock had not started when Hamilton touched the ball, so how much time elapsed during that catch, set, and shoot sequence wasn't calculated.

The Blue Devils then won in dramatic fashion, inbounding the ball from the backcourt with 4.4 seconds showing and scoring as time expired when David McClure sank a close-range shot.

A referee, who wears a Precision Time device on his belt, is supposed to start and stop the clock. The game was officiated by Mike Kitts, John Cahill and Tom Lopes. The timer at Thursday's game -- whose name Duke would not reveal -- also is required to do the same. The News & Observer confirmed the timer was Tommy Hunt, the ACC supervisor of football officials who has often served as timer at Duke games.

Hunt, who lives in Durham, could not be reached for comment.

Had they known of the tardy clock start, officials could have deducted seconds by reviewing Hamilton's shot.

ESPN calculated 2.6 seconds expired on Hamilton's shot, which would have left Duke 2.4 seconds instead of 4.4, analyst Jay Bilas wrote on ESPN.com. Bilas is a former Duke player and assistant coach.

Clemson coach Oliver Purnell talked with Clougherty on Friday, but doesn't sound like somebody who wants to belabor the mishap.

"I think mistakes were made," he told The (Columbia, S.C.) State. "[But] I told our players after the game to forget about it. Forget the clock situation because we've got to play better to get it done."

Reached by The N&O, Duke assistant athletics director Jon Jackson declined to comment.

Paul Russell, the game-clock operator for the N.C. State men's basketball team, didn't see the Duke-Clemson drama. But he can empathize with timers and officials.

"Anything can happen,'' he said. "You can have a power surge and the clock stops or a power surge and the clock starts. [But] you have to keep your eye on the clock at all times. On an inbounds play, [if] you are 50 feet away, you could be blocked."

ACC schools such as N.C. State, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest hire the people who sit at the scorer's table and run the clock. They meet with the officials before each game and strive to stay in sync.

But sometimes the timing can be off.

Like it was Thursday night.

(Staff writers Luciana Chavez and Chip Alexander contributed to this report.)