Northwestern Survives Horrific Call To Beat FAU In OT: VIDEO

Northwestern is heading to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a wild game against FAU.

FAU was up 58-56 with just under 30 seconds left when it appeared Northwestern had retained a loose ball to have a shot at winning the game. There was just one problem.

The refs called it out of bounds on the Wildcats in what can only be described as a horrific call.

Ultimately, it was ruled an inadvertent whistle, which then gave the ball with the possession arrow to FAU. Check out the truly unbelievable call below.

Northwestern wins in OT.

Smartly, the Wildcats quickly fouled Vladislav Goldin, who missed the front end of a one and one. From there, it was fireworks for Northwestern as Brooks Barnhizer tied it up and FAU guard Johnell Davis blew any chance of the Owls winning in regulation.

It was truly an incredible final couple moments of regulation.

From there, it was all Northwestern in OT as the Wildcats cruised to a 77-65 win to advance to Sunday. It's a good thing they won in OT because otherwise, all anyone would be talking about was the horrible call from the refs.

How do you mess up a call that badly? The refs were right there, and the Northwestern player was clearly not out of bounds. Then, when it got reversed, FAU kept the ball anyway. There would have been chaos if FAU had won thanks to that blown call.

We already saw the backlash from the Samford/Kansas ending, and I'm sure this would have been just as bad.

Next up for the Wildcats is the winner of Stetson/UConn this Sunday. Let me know your thoughts on how it all shook out at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.