Greg McDermott Refuses to Comment on Officiating After Loss to SDSU

The Creighton coach admitted that “officiating is part of the game.”

The end of the Elite Eight game between No. 5 San Diego State and No. 6 Creighton finished in a weird sequence, to say the least.

The Aztecs ended up winning 57–56 after SDSU guard Darrion Trammell was fouled with 1.2 seconds to play. Trammell made one of his two free throws to seal the win for SDSU.

Some fans weren’t happy with the officiating late in the game, and it certainly wouldn’t be outside the purvey of Creighton head coach, Greg McDermott, to express similar sentiment. If that’s how he felt, though, he wasn’t going to say it publicly. 

“Two teams played their tails off and officiating is part of the game,” McDermott said, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “We’re not going to go there. We lost the game because we didn’t do enough and San Diego State did.”

The coach wouldn’t talk about the team’s decisions towards the end of the game either. With 1.2 seconds left after Trammell’s free throw attempts, Creighton attempted a full-court pass to try to win the game, but the ball bounced out of bounds.

The Aztecs will move on to the Final Four to face No. 9 Florida Atlantic next Saturday.