Memphis and Houston were locked in a tight game with under 30 seconds left. Houston led by one and had possession. After a timeout, Houston tried to stretch the lead with a three, but missed. Memphis grabbed the rebound and looked to push in transition with numbers. But the whistle blew, stopping the fast break. Confusion followed. The Memphis coach was livid, shouting that he never called timeout. Assistant coaches were stunned, fans were furious, and replays showed the coach had yelled “go” in excitement, not “timeout.” The referee claimed he thought he heard the coach call it, but it was clearly a mistake.
The stop cost Memphis a clear scoring opportunity, and they had to reset. With 13 seconds left, they ran a play, drew a foul, and Jaren Jackson Jr. hit both free throws to take the lead. Houston got one last shot after using their final timeout, but missed. Memphis came away with the win. The blown call didn’t end up costing Memphis the game, but it easily could have. The official never even looked directly at the coach and still called timeout based on a misheard shout. It was a clear example of poor awareness that nearly changed the outcome.