NCAA shortens shot clock, makes changes to improve pace of game

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Monday approved a package of proposals and areas of focus for officials in men?s basketball to improve the pace of play, better balance offense with defense and reduce the physicality in the sport.

Here are some of the biggest changes, according to NCAA.com:

• Shot clock reduced to 30 seconds.
• Teams will have one fewer team timeout (only three can carry over instead of four) in the second half.
• Timeouts called within 30 seconds of a break (at the 16:30 mark) or at any time after the scheduled media timeout becomes the media timeout.
• Coaches can no longer call a timeout when the ball is live.
• Officials can use the monitor to review a potential shot clock violation on made field goals throughout the entire game.
• Making Class B technical fouls (hanging on the rim and delaying the resumption of play, for example) one-shot technical fouls. Previously, two shots were granted for these types of technical fouls.
• Eliminating the five-second closely guarded rule while dribbling the ball.
• Removing the prohibition on dunking in pregame warmups and at halftime.
• Allowing a total of only 10 seconds to advance the ball to the front court (with a few exceptions).

The panel also approved an experimental rule to allow players six personal fouls, instead of five, in the 2016 postseason tournaments other than the Division I Men?s Basketball Championship.

A season ago, the postseason tournaments, all but the NCAA tourney, experimented with the 30-second shot clock that was just approved for the 2015-16 season.

Read full NCAA.com release.