Game officials who decided not to use a monitor to determine UL had six players on the floor for the final 21 seconds of its Jan. 5 overtime win at Western Kentucky did the right thing, a subsequently produced NCAA memo shows.

The Jan. 10 memo — written in response to the UL-WKU game’s ending, by secretary-rules editors from the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committee and for NCAA referees and school administrators throughout the country — was obtained via an Internet search.

According to the memo, which uses a hypothetical introductory play situation, "officials must see the violation occur or have personal knowledge that it did occur in order to penalize the infraction."

Moreover, citing NCAA basketball rules "10-2.6, 2-13.2 and 5-7.7," the memo confirms that a "monitor may not be used to obtain such knowledge."

"Personal knowledge" means the officials must have seen the sixth player participating with their own eyes, and not have been told by anyone else, including an official scorekeeper, a coach, a player or a fan, Sun Belt Conference Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials Mike Wood said this week.

That backs the decision by referees Brad Gaston, Roger Ayers and Reinaldo Acosta — none of whom noticed UL inadvertently was using six players when point guard Elfrid Payton scored the Cajuns’ winning basket in OT at WKU — to not review the play.

The memo, clarifying already existing rules, states that a team should be awarded two free throws if an officials "observes" both "immediately after the expiration of time and before the officials have left the playing court" that the other team "had six players on the court when (a) basket was scored."

That means the Hilltoppers should have been awarded two free throws that, if made, would have forced a second overtime — but that’s only if the officials had "personal knowledge," and in this instance none of the three did.

Neither the play itself nor the memo, then, changes anything.

The only way change could be implemented, including use of a monitor for such a circumstance, is if the rule were to be rewritten by the NCAA — and that typically could happen only when rules revisions are considered every other offseason.

Wood addressed a few related hypotheticals, including:

» If the sixth player was noticed by an official after Payton scored but before time expired, then the basket would have counted and WKU should have been awarded two free throws and the ball; and

» If the sixth player was noticed by an official before Payton scored but while UL had the ball, then WKU should have been awarded two free throws but UL should have gotten the ball back because it had possession at "the time of interruption" of play.

Although neither Wood nor the Sun Belt have disclosed what action was taken, the coordinator confirmed there were "consequences" as a result of the officials’ failure to notice the sixth player.

All three, Wood added, remain "devastated" by what occurred.

"But," he said, "they were good referees before this game, they were all good referees during the game and, though they all regret what happened, they are all good referees after the end of that game."

The finish matters most

Earlier this week, Cajuns coach Bob Marlin was asked yet again about sophomore power forward J.J. Thomas — UL’s leading scorer last season and this — coming off the bench behind senior Darshawn McClellan.

"It doesn’t matter to me whether you start the game or not," said Marlin, whose Cajuns face North Texas tonight. "It matters to the players. But we’re looking for guys who can finish."

By George

The Cajuns are playing at home tonight on a Wednesday — rare during the Sun Belt portion of their schedule — so the Cajundome can be set up for Friday night’s concert featuring George Strait and special guest Martina McBride.

Lagniappe

The Cajuns rode a bumpy, suspension-challenged bus back from Jonesboro, Ark., immediately after their loss Saturday night at Arkansas State, and after a 500-plus mile trip they did not arrive back in Lafayette until around 6:15 a.m. Sunday. "» With 46 blocks, center Kadeem Coleby is on pace to become the first Cajun with 50-plus blocks since Chris Cameron had 52 and Michael Southall 93 in the 2005-06 season. "» At 4-3, UL goes into play this week one game behind North Texas, Denver and Arkansas-Little Rock for the Sun Belt Conference West Division lead. "» The Cajuns are 10-1 all-time vs. North Texas at the Cajundome.