As the Iowa Hawkeyes staged a sensational comeback against Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska to advance to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, it was a costly miscalculation by the Cornhuskers’ coach that overshadowed the day’s play. Sports analyst Stephen A. Smith didn’t waste time calling out the man he felt responsible for this fiasco.

“It ain’t the referee’s job to make sure you got five players on the court,” came Stephen A’s blunt reply.

It was a bizarre on-court mistake. Nebraska found themselves with only four players on the court for a Hawkeyes’ inbound play, which then led to an easy bucket. The Hawkeyes were leading with 71-68 when Kael Combs spotted his teammate Alvaro Folgueiras standing completely unguarded on the other side of the court as Rienk Mast was nowhere to be seen.

Without wasting any time, he passed the ball over to Folgueiras, who converted the easy basket to extend the lead and finally wrapped up the game at 77-71.

It was really brutal to see a team crash out that way, more so after such a great season. The loss was especially tough to swallow for Nebraska forward Pryce Sandfort, who had been the team’s top scorer in four consecutive games.

Indeed, a sad finish after such a great run. But you have to give credit where it’s due, and coach Hoiberg isn’t one to shirk away from taking accountability.

Fred Hoiberg Takes Full Blame for Himself After Critical Error Against Iowa

You can say what you want about the error, but it takes sheer guts to own up to your mistakes, and Fred Hoiberg did just that. Rather than pointing fingers or throwing a fit, he calmly took the blame on himself rather than throwing his boys under the bus.

“Put that one on me,” Hoiberg said. “It was a miscommunication. I’m the head coach, and that one’s on me.”

Hoiberg even went further and admitted that he didn’t know about the exact rules that came into effect when things headed in this particular direction.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that. I know they always count to make sure there’s not six,” he said honestly.

Hoiberg probably thought the referees would stop the game or disallow the basket when this situation came to light, but that was not to be. Basketball insider Dan Patrick, however, praised Hoiberg for his actions.

“I give coach (Fred Hoiberg) credit. Whether it was his fault or not, he was going to fall on the sword there. You don’t want to blame one of your kids,” he said, absolving the coach of any sin.

Hoiberg, too, shouldn’t be too hard on himself after the performance they put up this season. The Cornhuskers ended their season with 28 wins and 7 losses, and also had a win over the Hawkeyes when they last met (84-75 OT). Unfortunately for him, today was not his day.