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The Santa Clara Broncos thought they had this game won.
Instead, Otega Oweh hit a game-tying 3-pointer for Kentucky at the regulation buzzer, and then the Wildcats ran away in overtime.
There's one moment that has begun to circulate on social media that adds to the pain, though.
When Santa Clara hit its go-ahead 3-pointer, head coach Herb Sendek tried to call timeout.
A team can call a timeout on a made basket before the ball is inbounded by the other team, and that's what Sendek wanted. He wanted to set his defense up after the massive shot.
Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek was trying to call a timeout before Kentucky nailed a three at the buzzer. #NCAATournament #MarchMadness https://t.co/JuUQfHyYms pic.twitter.com/lGbQvrfOsJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2026MORE: Syracuse, Gerry McNamara, a near upset and a head coaching gig
The officials didn't grant the timeout. And you can see in the above angle that the ref on that sideline looked away pretty quickly. It doesn't seem like any were looking at Sendek at all.
The regular broadcast angle appears to show Sendek start signaling for a timeout before the ball was put into play. It was pretty tight, but he probably got the timeout call off in time. Except no one saw it.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2026Santa Clara hadn't won in the NCAA Tournament in three decades. And here, they nearly had it.
Maybe Kentucky draws up a good play out of a timeout and sends it to overtime anyway. But the Wildcats likely benefited from a bit of a disconnected Santa Clara defense after the go-ahead shot.
There's no way to go back and change it. But it adds just a little more pain for Santa Clara.
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