The NCAA explains the foul call that led to Virginia’s Final Four victory over Auburn

The NCAA issued a statement on the final foul called in Virginia’s 63-62 victory against Auburn in a national semifinal game Saturday.

Virginia’s Kyle Guy was called for a foul by the Tigers’ Samir Doughty while attempting a three-point shot with the Cavaliers trailing by two.

Auburn players were told by coach Bruce Pearl after the game not to gripe about the officiating, but he was visibly upset with the call when it was made.

J.D. Collins, the national coordinator of officiating, explained the call in a statement: “With 0.6 seconds remaining in tonight’s national semifinal game between Virginia and Auburn, Virginia’s Kyle Guy was fouled on a three-point attempt by Auburn’s Samir Doughty. The call was made by official James Breeding, who ruled that Doughty moved into the airborne shooter, making contact with Guy while taking away his landing spot. The foul was a violation of Rule 4, Section 39.i, which states, “Verticality applies to a legal position and also to both the offensive and defensive players. The basic components of the principle of verticality are: The defender may not ‘belly up’ or use the lower part of the body or arms to cause contact outside his vertical plane or inside the opponent’s vertical plane.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2019 at 9:13 PM.