As college basketball searches for ways to improve, an NCAA panel has drawn up rules to accomplish that. In this year’s National Invitation Tournament, which includes Syracuse, experimental rules have been implemented.

“We’ll see. I don’t know until we get in there,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said about the experimental rules. “We’ll see how they work.”

The Orange (18-14, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) faces North Carolina-Greensboro (25-9, 14-4 Southern) in its NIT opener on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Here are the rules SU and UNCG will be playing with Wednesday night and throughout the tournament.

Team fouls reset to zero at 10-minute mark of each half

The game will be split into four 10-minute segments. The game clock will still go by two 20-minute halves, but halfway through team fouls will reset to zero. When a team commits four fouls, the opposing team will shoot two free throws. Each additional foul in the 10 minutes will be rewarded with a pair of free throws.

This eliminates the “one-and-one” free throws when a team commits its seventh, eighth and ninth fouls in a half.

It also means a team could be in the bonus in the first half of a half, but not the second half. With the fouls resetting only at the end of each half, that wouldn’t be possible. In any overtime period, a team will earn two free throws once the opposition commits three fouls.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee is considering changing from 20-minute halves to 10-minute quarters (which is used in women’s college basketball). The resetting of team fouls 10 minutes into the half is a key factor in the discussion, thus the experimentation in the NIT.

“I think the foul rule is the interesting one,” Boeheim said. “We’ll see how that plays out. That’s the one that has a chance to be a difference-maker.”

Shot clock reset to 20 seconds when inbounding ball in frontcourt

When inbounding in the frontcourt after certain stoppages, the shot clock will remain the same or reset to 20 seconds, whichever number is greater. The current rule allows for the shot clock to reset to 30 seconds.

The three situations that could trigger the reset shot clock for a frontcourt inbounds are a defensive personal foul that results in no free throws, a technical foul against the defense and a stoppage due to blood on a player. This is expected to increase possessions and scoring.

Published on March 15, 2017 at 11:14 am

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds