If you, as a referee see there was a foul, you have to call it. Criticize the way the rest of the game and the way it was called (or not called) vs a correct call.
Where do you draw the cut line for swallowing the whistle though? 2 seconds, 5 seconds? Up 1,2,3? If players knew they could get away with anything that last 30 seconds it wouldn’t be good.
Players did decide that game. The player fouled and then the other player hit the FT for the foul.
Now with all of that being said, I would be mad pissed if that’s how we lost an NCAA game. That’s just part of being a fan.