SMU vs. UCLA: Twitter Reacts to Goaltending Call to Give Bruins Last-Second Lead

For a moment, UAB's win over Iowa State was Thursday's most shocking development. Not long after, however, Georgia State overcame a 12-point deficit against Baylor when R.J. Hunter sank a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining, knocking his injured father, head coach Ron Hunter, off his stool.

And then the finale of the SMU vs. UCLA contest came along and simply became the most bizarre moment of them all.

With less than 15 seconds remaining in the game, UCLA's Bryce Alford hoisted up a desperation three that didn't appear to be going in. But SMU's Yanick Moreira went up to swat the ball away, and the referees determined that the ball was still above the cylinder at the time. The goaltending call gave UCLA the basket and a 60-59 lead.

Here's the moment in question, via Bleacher Report on Twitter:

SMU's Nic Moore missed two shots on the following possession, and UCLA came away with the win.

Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News provided Moreira's take on the play:

Adam Lefkoe and Bleacher Report College Basketball Analyst Jordan Schultz discussed the late-game goaltending call:

Reaction, as you might imagine, was mixed on Twitter.

Many folks called for the refs to review the call, though as Seth Davis of CBS Sports noted, that wasn't possible:

NCAA coordinator of officials John Adams provided more on the basis of the ruling, per Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated:

Andy Glockner of The Cauldron passed along what the rulebook says on goaltending:

In this case, it appears the call was correct, though the interpretation that the ball could have gone in seems questionable at best. The ball looked as though it would hit the rim, but few folks seemed to believe the shot had a chance of going in.

Count Jeff Borzello of ESPN among them:

That seemed to be the consensus: The call was right, but the result was nevertheless unfair. T.J. Quinn of ESPN felt that way:

So too did Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times:

Notably, NBA superstar Kevin Durant thought the officials got the call correct:

Now UCLA—a team most people felt didn't deserve its tournament berth—will move on, while SMU lost in heartbroken fashion. Not surprisingly, Moreira took the loss hard, per Nicole Auerbach of USA Today:

That's the other side of the buzzer-beating shots and thrilling finishes in March Madness: the despair that comes along with being on the losing end of such games.

On Saturday, UCLA will face No. 14 UAB and, amazingly, appears to be a favorite to reach the Sweet 16. You just can't script March Madness, can you?