Numbers Can Be Deceiving

Former Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald urges all
players to stop the game so he can make sure there are 10
players on the court. McDonald got burned against
Louisiana-Lafayette, when the Ragin' Cajuns finished with
six players in the game.

When it comes to college basketball, most people don't really start to pay attention until the first part of February.

Apparently the same can be said for officials in the Sun Belt Conference.

With the game tied at 70 in overtime with 21 seconds remaining, Louisiana-Lafayette and Western Kentucky broke their respective huddles. Through confusion — or perhaps as part of a diabolical plan by Ragin' Cajuns coach Bob Marlin — Louisiana-Lafayette ended the game with six players on the floor.

Normally the extra player would result in a technical foul, but because Western Kentucky was playing zone nobody realized there was an extra player on the court — not even Elfrid Payton, who dribbled out the remaining seconds before scoring the game-winning layup.

In fact, it wasn't until after the game that officials were alerted of the mistake. And with the game already finalized and the teams headed to the locker room, there was no way to enforce the technical.

One day day later, Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald was fired by the school. It's safe to say that McDonald's least favorite number is five. Not because that's how many players are supposed to be on a basketball court, but because that's how many wins the Hilltoppers had following McDonald's mid-season firing.

McDonald has a daughter who is just about to turn four. My guess is that without a job, the former Hilltoppers coach will be spending a lot of time teaching his daughter how to count up to six until it's time to get his résumé ready for the myriad of coaching openings that show up in mid-March.