2026 NCAA tournament: Kentucky’s buzzer-beater leads to horrible bad beat for bettors

The No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats and No. 10 Santa Clara Broncos were locked in one of the 2026 NCAA tournament’s most exciting games on Friday afternoon, which was coming down to the wire.

With under 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Santa Clara — a 3.5-point underdog coming into the game — led 70-68 and Kentucky had the ball. Any bettor with a ticket on the Broncos to cover or the game to go under the total of 157.5 had to be feeling pretty good about their chances.

Advertisement

Then chaos broke out.

Kentucky’s Otega Oweh made a layup to tie the game with 9 seconds left, followed by Santa Clara inbounding the ball and Broncos star Allen Graves hitting a 3-pointer to give Santa Clara a 73-70 lead with 2.4 seconds left. While it appeared as though Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek was trying to call a timeout, it wasn’t given. Kentucky inbounded the ball and Oweh launched a 3-pointer at the buzzer that went in.

The game went to overtime and to add insult to injury, Kentucky ended up winning the game 89-84, meaning that bettors on the Broncos to cover lost their wagers. It also crushed the dreams of under 157.5 bettors, who were cruising towards a cash.

Advertisement

According to Evan Abrams, since 2019, underdogs in the NCAA tournament had been 16-2 against the spread when the game goes to overtime. Kentucky’s five-point win makes that 16-3 ATS.

It’s a tough way to start the betting day for anyone on Santa Clara to cover or the under — not to mention the Broncos to simply win the game.

But it’s also what makes March Madness so captivating, and it’s a game no one will soon forget.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/betting/article/2026-ncaa-tournament-kentuckys-buzzer-beater-leads-to-horrible-bad-beat-for-bettors-190307846.html

Author : Ben Fawkes

Publish date : 2026-03-20 19:03:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.