With Notre Dame ahead, 71-68, in the final seconds, Golden Bears guard Dai Dai Ames shot and hit a ‘3’, drawing a foul from Logan Imes in the process. The referee initially ruled it an and-1 chance, but later overturned the call and said the foul occurred before the shot.
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A few seconds later, however, the referee overturned that call, calling the basket a good one and sending Ames to the free throw line for a chance to take the lead with five seconds left.
Ames made the next free throw to put the Bears up, 72-71.
After a timeout with 2.4 seconds left, Notre Dame had one last chance to win. However, a Braeden Shrewsberry three-point attempt resonated off the front iron, giving Cal an ACC home win.
As soon as the final horn sounded, Micah Shrewsberry charged toward the referee who awarded him the four-point game opportunity, visually angry and yelling at him. Several Notre Dame players and staff had to hold off the third-year head coach for a few seconds before Shrewsberry led the postgame handshake line with the Cal team.
It was a brutal defeat for the Irish, who led most of the contest. The margin reached 12 midway through the first half and it was 69-65 with 16 seconds left before blowing the final lead.
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Austin Hough is sports editor at USA Today Co.’s Center for Community Journalism and oversees coverage of high school sports and Notre Dame athletics for five Indiana newspapers. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @AustinRHough. Hough can be emailed at ahough@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared in the South Bend Tribune: Micah Shrewsberry calls out ref after Notre Dame basketball loss to Cal