Two days later, the Big East has admitted its official’s mistake that wound up costing St. John’s its Big East opener against Seton Hall.
In a statement obtained by The Post, the league admitted official Mike Stephens blew his whistle prematurely, calling it “en error in judgement.”
St. John’s was leading Seton Hall by a point with 3.9 seconds left, when LJ Figueroa deflected the inbounds pass, and saved it from going out of bounds by tipping it to teammate Mustapha Heron. But the whistle blew in the middle of the play, negating the steal. After a lengthy review, 0.8 seconds were taken off the clock, and the ball was returned to Seton Hall, which won the game on Shavar Reynolds’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sealed a 76-74 victory.
The league conducted a thorough review, and Stephens told the conference he blew his whistle because he thought the clock didn’t begin on time, though it had.
“This was a non-correctable judgment call that we have determined was an error in judgment by the official,” the statement read.
The Big East said once the judgement call was made, NCAA rules were followed correctly. A video review can be initiated on a timing error, but other components of the play could not be changed, the league said.
The league declined to say if Stephens or any of the other officials will be disciplined. It also declined to make anyone available for comment.