Much has been made by experts and writers covering the ISU men’s basketball team about coach Fred Hoiberg’s decision to not foul late in its game against Kansas. 

With 8.4 seconds remaining in the second half, ISU senior point guard Korie Lucious sank two free throws to give Iowa State a 79-76 lead against the Jayhawks. 

Kansas then took the ball up the right side of the court, running the exact same play that led to a Mario Chalmer-made 3-pointer against Memphis in the 2008 NCAA Championship game, which was sent into overtime where the Jayhawks won a national championship. 

ISU coach Fred Hoiberg said he expected Kansas to run that exact play, except this time the play featured an extra handoff.

Kansas’ Ben McLemore banked in a 3-pointer with exactly one second left, sending the game to overtime, where Kansas went on to win 97-89 against the Cyclones. 

Here’s what Hoiberg had to say about how he coached the situation:

“My explanation for this is you go back to your past experiences. Most people that are having their opinions right now have never dribbled a basketball before.

“I was part of a play when I was in Indiana where Larry Johnson, [who] we decided to foul, hits a 4-point play to beat us in the playoffs, a chance to win a championship that year. A couple other times you foul, and a guy goes into his shooting motion, there’s three free throws. I talked to [former ISU coach] Tim Floyd last night; he said his first time fouling, they fouled a guy in the act of shooting, and thankfully he missed one of them and they ended up winning that game. 

“We fouled my first year against Creighton, and they made one and got the offensive rebound; we fouled them again, and it took Jamie Vanderbeken hitting a 40-footer at the buzzer to win that, so you go back on what you’ve done in the past. Now I’ve been burned this way. It’s something that we’ll look at, something that we’ll work on moving forward, and we’ll make that decision based on what the situation calls for.

“The other thing, I was pretty much sure we weren’t going to get a call on a block out with two guys that were bigger than our guys if they make one, miss the second and get a tip in. There’s so many things that can happen. It’s not an automatic if you do foul that you win the game, and that’s the thing people are saying right now, and it’s been disappointing when you see that type of thing that ‘it’s just going to happen if you do it this way;’ it’s not. 

“Ken Pom is one of the smartest guys in this business; I think he has it 53-47 on the split on whether to foul or not. A lot of that depends on the situation, so would I do it again the same way? Obviously hindsight is a beautiful thing — I don’t know. You take each case individually. Then Tom Izzo is in the exact same situation last night and does the same thing (Winning at Iowa, 62-59). Again, it’s not an exact science, the exact science that people are making it out to be. 

“Again the coaches that I’ve played for, you go back on your past experiences and it’s the same thing. I see one guys says I’ve been burned too many times on getting hit by a 3, so then I decided to foul. Well then obviously your philosophy early was not to foul. The people that are saying this, like I said, a lot of them have never stepped foot on a basketball court before.”