sports

3-point lines in Portland ‘not the same distance,’ NCAA says


PORTLAND, Ore. — The NC State Wolfpack and Texas Longhorns played Sunday’s Region 4 final on a court with 3-point lines of different distances at the top of the key.

“The NCAA was notified today that the 3-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance,” the association said in a statement during the Wolfpack’s 76-66 win.

The error on the court, which had been used for four women’s regional semifinals Friday and Saturday, was discovered prior to Sunday’s game. After consulting with officials, Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer and Wolfpack coach Wes Moore agreed to continue with the game rather than delaying it for a remeasurement.

“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 statement read. “The court will be corrected before tomorrow’s game in Portland.”

Because teams switch sides of the court at halftime, there was no apparent edge for either team.

Schaefer said a delay would have taken at least an hour because someone from the outside would have to be brought in to remark the floor and could have forced the game to be bumped from being broadcast on ABC.

“At the end of the day we had already played a game on it and we both won, so we just decided to play,” Schaefer said.

Through five games, teams shooting on the end with the closer 3-point arc were 25.8% (23 of 89) on 3-pointers. At the end of the floor that appeared correct, teams shot 33.3% (29 of 87).

On Monday, the Moda Center will play host to the Region 3 final between No. 1-seeded USC and No. 3-seeded UConn.

Lisa Peterson, chair of the Division I women’s basketball committee, in speaking with ESPN later Sunday, said it wasn’t clear whether the lines would be repainted or corrected with tape. Peterson added the court needs to be measured professionally to determine the precise error in distance.

Information from ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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