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How a Missed Timeout Helped Kentucky Survive Scare From Santa Clara in March Madness

Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek called out officials after the game for not seeing his call for a timeout in the closing seconds.
Tom Dierberger|
Oweh celebrates with teammates after nailing a three-point basket at the buzzer to force overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Oweh celebrates with teammates after nailing a three-point basket at the buzzer to force overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

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Kentucky WildcatsSanta Clara Broncos

For a couple of seconds, it looked like Kentucky’s season was over.

After the Wildcats tied their first-round NCAA tournament matchup against Santa Clara 70–70 with 9.9 seconds remaining, Broncos forward Allen Graves nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left, thinking he had just inked an iconic March Madness moment in his program’s first appearance in the Big Dance since 1996.

Without a timeout, Kentucky had to scramble. Denzel Aberdeen inbounded the ball to Otega Oweh, who sprinted down the court and launched a three-pointer from well beyond the three-point line, parallel with the “E” in the March Madness logo at midcourt.

It went in. Kentucky forced overtime on a prayer, and went on to outscore Santa Clara 16–11 in the extra period to win 89–84 and advance to the round of 32.

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“I was trying to get as close as possible to make the shot. It just went in,” Oweh said on the CBS broadcast after the game. “It’s March Madness.”

“I was just praying for it to go in, man,” forward Mouhamed Dioubate said after the game. “I was about to cry if he missed that shot. I was just hoping the shot went in. I didn’t want the season to end already. We love being around each other every day. I was thinking, This can’t be the moment where it ends. Once he made it, we were all happy.”

However, Oweh probably shouldn’t have had the opportunity to shoot that buzzer beater—at least in that fashion.

As analyst Jim Spanarkel called out right away on the CBS broadcast, after Graves’s three-pointer went through and Santa Clara struggled to get back on defense, head coach Herb Sendek raced down the court after a referee, trying to call a timeout. No official saw his attempt in time, and Oweh splashed a triple from deep to force overtime.

“I unequivocally called timeout, but they didn’t grant it,” Sendek said. “I think the video evidence is clear and anybody is able to pull that up. [Calling a timeout] is a likely response after Allen hits the three that the coach would be calling timeout to set the defense, which I tried to do, and I was successful in doing, other than it wasn’t acknowledged or recognized. That’s what happened.”

If Sendek was awarded the timeout, Kentucky still would’ve received the basketball with 2.4 seconds to play. But the Broncos likely would’ve been better set up to defend or foul after a timeout.

Kentucky set an NCAA tournament record in the game with 11 blocked shots—the most of any first-round game in tournament history. Brandon Garrison had six of those blocked shots himself with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Oweh, to go along with his game-winning heroics, scored 35 points on 11-of-24 shooting with eight boards and seven assists.

Kentucky advances to take on the winner between No. 2 Iowa State and No. 15 Tennessee State on Sunday.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is the Deputy News Director at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor’s in communication from St. John’s University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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