Hosed.

Jobbed.

Cheated.

Betrayed.

Worked.

Gutted.

Gypped.

Victimized.

Scammed.

Duped.

Played.

Burned, bamboozled and conned.

Happens all the time in Las Vegas. Happened to the UAB basketball team at Orleans Arena in the championship game of the NIT. Yes, I’m mad and so should anyone who cares about the difference between what’s fair and what happened to the Blazers against North Texas.

They say that time doesn’t exist in Las Vegas casinos. The reason for the expression is because there are no clocks out on the floor. UAB basketball learned all about it on Thursday night in its 68-61 loss. What a complete fraud of a final score. On two different possessions late in the game, North Texas was awarded points despite committing shot clock violations. It changed the entire dynamic of the competition and gave North Texas five points that should not have counted.

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What a disaster. What a sad joke. What a complete travesty for UAB, which played winning basketball on two key defensive possessions in a tight game only to be slapped in the face by the instruments of incompetence on national television. The whole country saw the shot clock violations. Not the refs, though. Why even keep score at all? Maybe next time just roll out the ball, turn off the scoreboard and give both teams participation trophies and half-off vouchers for the late-night buffet.

Good news, guys. They never expire!

There will be time to celebrate this postseason run for UAB, but that time is not now. It’s time to be angry about a complete failure of time … and then time again.

The first mistake came with 9:25 left in the game. UAB led 49-47. The Blazers’ defense forced a desperate shot by North Texas. Rubin Jones clearly didn’t get the ball out of his hands in time. No call. Instead, North Texas player Aaron Scott grabbed the offensive rebound and fired a pass out to Tylor Perry, who drained a second-chance 3-pointer.

After the shot-clock violation, the ball should have been whistled dead when it touched Scott’s hands. Instead, North Texas was set up for a high-percentage attempt that changed the game. Second-chance 3-pointers are gold in basketball. For North Texas, Perry’s shot was like free points.

Officials indicated that they knew they missed the call, but said it couldn’t be reviewed per NCAA rules.

Oh, well. Nice try, UAB. Thanks for the laughs.

Not only did the error wrongly benefit North Texas, but it took the lead away from UAB when its defenders had spent valuable energy to force a turnover. There’s also this. After drilling an easy look that shouldn’t have counted, Perry got hot and went on to make three more key jumpers.

Only here’s the thing. Another Perry jumper should not have counted with 56 seconds left when officials once again missed a shot-violation on North Texas.

On that critical possession, with UAB trailing 63-59, the Blazers’ defense forced North Texas’ Kai Huntsberry into a desperation turnaround to beat the shot clock. He didn’t beat anything, though, except maybe UAB’s spirit. The ball was still in Huntsberry’s hands when the shot clock ended. Time expired on North Texas, but, as we already know, the artificial construct of time apparently does not exist anywhere in Las Vegas.

North Texas’ Moulaye Sissoko came down with the offensive rebound, North Texas was mistakenly gifted another possession with under a minute to play and allowed to waste more time. Perry’s second-chance jumper then gave North Texas a six-point lead.

I don’t make a habit of writing about judgment calls by officials. There are always questionable decisions. That’s the nature of unscripted drama. The universe finds a way to make things right. This is different, though, this wasn’t a church-league game on a Wednesday night. It was the championship game of a national tournament.

Can UAB protest the result? Sure, but I don’t see the NCAA taking a championship away from North Texas. North Texas played great basketball. The Mean Green is not at fault here. Based on these blunders, though, the rules need to change. The NCAA should allow officials to correct their mistakes on shot-clock violations.

That doesn’t help UAB’s basketball team one little bit, though. For the Blazers, the season is over, and for what could have been out in Las Vegas, time will always stand still.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.