After Santa Clara and Kentucky trade 3s in thrilling finish, ‘a tough one to swallow’ for Broncos

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Santa Clara thought it had knocked Kentucky out of the NCAA Tournament when freshman Allen Graves answered a tying basket by Wildcats star Otega Oweh with a 3-pointer in front of his own bench with 2.4 seconds left in regulation.

The problem for the Broncos: There were still 2.4 seconds left in regulation.

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As coach Herb Sendek tried to call timeout, Kentucky quickly got the ball into the hands of Oweh, who raced across the midcourt line and heaved up a 3-pointer, which banked through the bucket to tie the game at 73-all. The buzzer sounded when the ball was in midair.

The kind of shot that puts the madness into March Madness didn’t exactly end Santa Clara’s postseason hopes — that didn’t come until Kentucky scored eight consecutive points in OT to pull away. But the sequence of shots in those wild last few seconds of regulation will be remembered much longer than the 89-84 final score Friday, which sent the No. 7 seed Wildcats into a matchup with No. 2 seed Iowa State or No. 15 seed Tennessee State in the Midwest Region.

“You know,” Sendek said afterward, “it was a really euphoric high followed by a tough one to swallow.”

The No. 10 seed Broncos certainly gave everything they had — everything built up over the 30 years since Steve Nash last led them to the NCAA Tournament — in trying to knock off one of college basketball’s bluebloods inside the packed Enterprise Center.

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The game was tied 12 times. The lead changed hands 20 times. Santa Clara led by two at halftime as the West Coast Tournament runner-up went toe-to-toe with Kentucky, which was making its record-extending 63rd NCAA Tournament appearance.

Yet the first 59 minutes merely set the stage for the dramatic conclusion.

NO. 2 IOWA ST. 108, NO. 15 TENNESSEE ST. 74

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Iowa State star Joshua Jefferson left in the first half of the Cyclones’ romp past Tennessee State with a left ankle injury Friday, leaving the All-American’s status for the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/santa-clara-kentucky-trade-3s-221532242.html

Author : The Associated Press

Publish date : 2026-03-20 22:15:00

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