Social Media Erupts After Notre Dame Beats Pitt On Controversial Call In ACC Tournament

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March is here, and the Madness is underway. The ACC Tournament started on Tuesday with the lower-seeded teams taking the court. The first match of the conference tournament was a clash between 12-seed Notre Dame and 13-seed Pittsburgh. 

Despite the slightly lower seeding, Pitt entered as a slight favorite in the first game inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both teams finished 8-12 in ACC play during the regular season with Notre Dame beating Pitt at home in the only meeting between the pair. 

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The Fighting Irish jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as 10 points in the first half. But the Panthers fought back and cut the lead to three points at the break. 

The second half was a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading the lead throughout the second 20 minutes. Pittsburgh had a four-point lead with just under four minutes to play. 

Notre Dame beat Pitt in the ACC Tournament thanks to a controversial foul called with under one second left in the game.

Notre Dame beat Pitt in the ACC Tournament thanks to a controversial foul called with under one second left in the game.

(Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

Notre Dame grabbed the lead back and had a one-point advantage with 1:20 to go. Then. Pitt guard Brandon Cummings hit a massive three-pointer that rattled around the rim before dropping to give the Panthers a two-point lead with under a minute to play. 

Notre Dame tied the game on the ensuing possession and then Pitt failed to score, which gave the Irish the ball with the shot clock turned off with a chance to break the tie and win the game. 

However, the Irish missed a jump shot and then missed a putback attempt, and the game was seemingly headed to overtime. 

Except, an out-of-position referee under the basket called a foul at some point during the rebound scramble, which gave Notre Dame two free throws with half-a-second left. 

The Irish hit one of two and won the game. Social media erupted over what seemed like an insane call for a referee to make, especially to decide an ACC Tournament game. 

It served as a reminder that as great as college basketball is, particularly around tournament time, the referees are often bad. There's no point in sugarcoating it; college basketball officiating is often terrible and frequently ruins great games. 

This is one example, and we're only one day into the ACC Tournament. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.

Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.