March Madness 2026: Blown alley-oop dunk costs Utah Valley its shot at the NCAA tournament

Utah Valley squandered its chance to make the NCAA tournament in the most brutal possible way late Saturday night.

Sophomore forward Isaac Davis botched a potential game-tying alley-oop dunk with just over three seconds left in the second half of the final Western Athletic Conference title game before the league rebrands before next season.

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With top-seeded Utah Valley trailing second-seeded Cal Baptist by two and down to its final possession, the Wolverines ran a top-of-the-key pick and roll to give their best playmaker, Trevon Leonhardt, the chance to create off the dribble. Leonhardt fed a pinpoint lob pass to a rolling Davis, but the 6-foot-8 forward appeared to mistime his jump and had his dunk attempt carom hard off the rim, dooming Utah Valley to a 63-61 gut punch of a loss.

Utah Valley only faced a deficit in the final seconds because of the heroics of Cal Baptist guard Dominique Daniels, who played all 40 minutes and scored a team-high 23 points. Daniels sank a go-ahead step-back 3-pointer with 14.6 seconds to go, giving Cal Baptist the lead and paving the way for Davis’ game-sealing blunder.

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While Cal Baptist celebrated a victory that clinched that program’s first-ever NCAA tournament bid, Davis sat on the floor exactly where he had fallen after his missed dunk and buried his head in his jersey in disbelief. Davis started all 33 games this season for Utah Valley (25-8) and averaged 11.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Against Cal Baptist, with Utah Valley’s NCAA tournament hopes on the line, Davis had logged 31 minutes and put up a solid 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

Unfortunately, the memory he’ll be stuck with is having the chance to force overtime in his finger tips, only to have it go wrong in excruciating fashion.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/march-madness-2026-blown-alley-oop-dunk-costs-utah-valley-its-shot-at-the-ncaa-tournament-065418893.html

Author : Jeff Eisenberg

Publish date : 2026-03-15 06:54:00

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