ANAHEIM, Calif. — It's a razor-thin margin that often decides these trips to the Final Four.
On Saturday, for No.1 seed Arizona, considered by many as likely a national champion as any team, it came down to a block-charge call.
No. 2 seed Wisconsin led by a point with the final seconds running down in overtime.
LET THEM PLAY: Officials miss another crucial call
Arizona guard Nick Johnson, the Pac-12 player of the year, drove the right side of the lane against Wisconsin guard Josh Gasser, a two-time Big Ten all-defensive team selection.
Strength against strength. Then, contact. A whistle. A trip to the Final Four, which would be a first for either Arizona coach Sean Miller or Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, hung in the balance.
MOVING ON: Wisconsin knocks out Arizona
BOX SCORE: Badgers 64, Wildcats 63 OT
The call went against Johnson, Miller and Arizona — an offensive foul that basically decided the game, a 64-63 Wisconsin victory.
Arizona got the ball one last time with 2.3 seconds left after a Wisconsin turnover, but Johnson, dribbling on the left wing, wasn't able to get off a shot in time.
If the block-charge call had gone the other way, Johnson, who led his team with 16 points, would have been at the free throw line with a chance to give his team a 65-64 lead with 3.2 seconds.
How did Johnson see the call?
In a postgame news conference, he said, "It's all a blur right now. I couldn't even tell you."
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ANALYSIS: Gators in perfect position
Later, in a quiet Arizona locker room, he said, "I made a strong move to the basket and, I don't know, really. Obviously, I wish it would have gone the other way."
Miller's view, expressed succinctly at the news conference, was, "I thought it was a really, really tough call."
After a long pause, he added, "I'm going to stop there. I've already been fined."
Miller was fined $25,000 by the Pac-12 a year ago for his actions, including confronting a game official, after Arizona lost to UCLA 66-64 in a conference tournament semifinal, a game in which Miller received a technical foul near the end.
This time Miller walked onto the court after the call and glared at the official, but he did not get a technical foul, and his postgame comments were calm and filled with compliments and best wishes for Wisconsin and Ryan.
"I hope they win it all," Miller said. "I really do."
It's the second crucial, closing-seconds offensive foul call in two nights. On Friday, Michigan was the beneficiary, when Tennessee's Jarnell Stokes was whistled for a charge in the closing seconds as the Vols had a chance to take a lead.
Miller's painful defeat came just hours after his younger brother, Archie, who coaches Dayton, was denied a trip to the Final Four when Dayton lost to No.1 seed Florida.
"It's very disappointing when it doesn't go your way," Miller said. "But we leave here with our head held very, very high. This is the best team I've ever been around. We won 33 games. We won our conference (regular season). We got right to the very end, and we're one of eight, nine, 10 teams that if we would have gotten to the Final Four, we could have won two more.
"That is the greatness of the NCAA tournament. The thrill of victory. When you lose, it's like a car crashes. It's just, you're done."
Johnson was guarded tough by Gasser most of the game. It was a matchup that typified a game in which most possessions became prolonged struggles to identify anything approaching a good shot attempt, much less making one.
Both teams had earned reputations as strong defensive teams.
Both teams ended up being held to 39% shooting.
"All throughout the game, we made their job tough," Johnson said. "It just came down to one final play. It's tough. But it happens. It's not the end of the world."
Miller tinkered with the matchups because of the way Wisconsin 7-foot center Frank Kaminsky, who ended up with 28 points, was hurting the Wildcats. At times, he had Johnson, who is 6-3 but a great leaper, fronting Kaminsky.
"He had a great game today," Johnson said of Kaminsky. "We tried a little something different ... but he's a great player. He made shots. He made big-time shots."
Fittingly, the wrestling match of a game ended up on two defensive stops.
Gasser drew the charge on Johnson.
Then Johnson, pressured, didn't get his last shot off in time.
"I wish I would have taken one less dribble, get the shot off, give us a little chance," Johnson said. "But I mean, it was a hard-fought game."
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