KNOXVILLE - Michael Constabile, the inventor of the timing device used in No. 1 Tennessee's 59-58 victory over No. 5 Rutgers on Sunday, suspects human error led to the disputed ending of Monday night's game.
The game clock appeared to pause for more than a second just before reaching zero, and Tennessee made two free throws with two-tenths of a second left. ESPN showed that 1.3 seconds passed.
"I can only conclude that we won the game in regulation and ask that the NCAA basketball committee take this into consideration when they seed the teams," Rutgers athletic director Robert Mulcahy said.
Costabile said there is plenty of room for human error in running the game clock. "Have we had somebody hit the wrong button? Yes."
