Watch: Charles Barkley Handling Auburn's Final Four Loss to Virginia Better Than Expected
Charles Barkley couldn't contain his disappointment on Saturday night. His fifth-seeded Auburn Tigers fell to No. 1 Virginia in the Final Four after a controversial final few seconds ended with a trio of Kyle Guy free throws to secure a win.
The former Auburn-basketball-star-turned-NBA-analyst was visibly frustrated as Guy, a junior guard for the Cavaliers, brought the game within one with 6.5 seconds remaining in regulation on a contested three from the corner.
Chuck's reaction looked eerily similar to his response to an earlier dagger from Virginia's Ty Jerome.
On Virginia's next possession in the thrilling ending, Barkley began to celebrate on the next play when Guy bricked his last-second shot from the corner. But his elation was quickly deflated when he realized the Tigers' Samir Doughty fouled Guy in the process, giving him three shots at the line.
Guy sunk all three to take the 63–62 win for Virginia. Chuck's disappointment continued after the loss, but was hedged by his respect for the fact that he thought the Cavaliers' coach, Tony Bennett, created plays which allowed his team to set themselves up for the late-game win, which he noted Auburn allowed.
Barkley said on the broadcast that he did not think the foul on Doughty was a bad call at all, adding that the officials made the right decision by sending Guy to the line for three. But when analyzing the controversial double dribble by Ty Jerome—which wasn't called by officials during the game—Barkley said that he wanted to cry.
"I don't want to take away from Virginia's victory because they got the play," Barkley said. "The three in the corner, they kept giving themselves chances to win the game. It was a heck of a game. Man, I really wanna cry right now, I ain't gonna lie. But I don't want to take away from Virginia's joy right now."
He added that he did think the double dribble was a missed call by the officials.
Barkley was also quite reactive during Auburn's upset of Carolina in the Sweet 16—although those reactions were slightly more positive.
Virginia will face No. 3 Texas Tech in Monday's national championship game.
