Stat-keeping error in Illinois State-Chicago State basketball game leads to sportsbook refunds

A stat-keeping error that impacted the final score and point spread of a mid-major college basketball game Saturday was spotted by bettors, prompting some sportsbooks to pay out winning wagers on both teams.

The mistake occurred late in the second half of the Illinois State-Chicago State game Saturday. A made free throw by Illinois State’s Josiah Strong with 49 seconds to play was erroneously recorded as a miss. Illinois State, 9.5 or 10-point favorites at most sportsbooks, went on to win by nine — 80-71 — without the made free throw counting.

Chicago State’s athletic department on Monday had identified the discrepancy and was working with the NCAA to correct the score. The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sports communications departments for colleges typically track statistics and transmit the data to the NCAA’s official data disseminator, Genius Sports.

“Genius Sports is the technology provider to the NCAA that facilitates the collection of official data by NCAA Schools on their games,” Genius Sports chief communications officer Chris Dougan wrote in an emailed statement to ESPN. “Genius Sports does not determine the official game score, which is decided by the game referee.”

Human error from time to time occurs during the stat-keeping process and is often quickly corrected. Sports bettors, who pay close attention, say errors involving halftime scores are the most common, and corrections on individual player stats, like the over/under on rushing or passing yards in football, can sometimes take days to be updated.

“In terms of the actual final game score being incorrect, though, that is very rare,” said Jay Croucher, the director of trading for sportsbook PointsBet.

U.S. Integrity, a company that monitors the betting market, sent an alert Sunday morning to its sportsbook clients about the possible scoring discrepancy in Illinois State-Chicago State. However, the erroneous score remained up on both athletic programs’ websites Monday…