Murray State-Austin Peay ... under further review?

It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions from the controversial flagrant foul called on Murray State guard Isacc Miles in Saturday's ESPNU-televised Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay, and the manner in which the officials arrived at the call.

This is the scenario which led up to the call: Murray had cut a 15-point Austin Peay lead to three and had possession of the ball with less than two minutes remaining. Miles caught pass from a teammate and, defended closely by Austin Peay's Josh Terry, held the ball over his head and turned into him in an effort to clear some space.

Terry fell back as if he had taken an elbow to the face, although television replays were inconclusive as to the extent of the contact. An official blew the whistle to stop play, but the play was later ruled an inadvertent whistle and a media timeout was called.

During the timeout, according to ESPNU announcer Mark Adams, a former college coach, he called an official to him to ask for an interpretation of the call — not an uncommon action among media types. I've done it myself on occasion.

According to Adams, the official then asked him if there was contact on the play, and Adams replied that there was and then asked the official "The call is reviewable, correct?"

Sometime, in the aftermath of the discussion, the officials decided to review the call. Miles was later assessed the foul, his fifth of the game, and Austin Peay was awarded two free throws and possession of the ball, standard procedure for an intentional or flagrant foul.

Did Adams' query intitate the review? Judging solely by his comments — Adams told the story three or four times during the ESPNU broadcast — it appears that may have been the case.

Adams isn't out of bounds for doing what he did — after all, he's simply doing his job. I wonder, however, if the OVC and perhaps the NCAA might review the situation and issue a clarification on the proper procedures for reviewing the call.

In these situations, my mantra is consistent — as long as the officials get the call right, nothing else matters. But I'm not sure that there was actual contact, and Miles' action seemed rather innocuous. Regardless of whether or not that is a point of emphasis for officials this season, as Adams maintained, Miles' actions certainly didn't appear to have any intent.

Murray coach Billy Kennedy was gracious in his postgame comments, refusing to blame the officials for the loss, and I'm not making that claim, either. But there is little doubt that the events changed the game on three levels — instead of Murray having possession of the ball and trailing by just three points, Austin Peay was shooting free throws and had possession.

Miles, who was 6-for-8 from the field and had 14 points and three assists, was done for the day, and the call also sapped any momentum the Racers may have garnered during its run.

Strange things often happen when the Governors and Racers get together, and this one just adds another chapter to the story.