The ball came back to Virginia basketball guard Kihei Clark with just under 11 seconds left in the game, his fourth-seeded team leading No. 13 Furman by two on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The corner is a dangerous place when maintaining a slim lead and the defense fighting and clawing for steals, but the Cavaliers didn't need to panic. Clark is a senior who played on Virginia's 2019 national championship squad, after all. More importantly? Tony Bennett had a timeout remaining, able to rescue Clark with a stoppage if necessary.
🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨
JP Pegues buries the game winning three and No. 13 Furman STUNS No. 4 Virginia in a wild finish!pic.twitter.com/qfa47qBUJ7
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 16, 2023
After Furman's stunning last-second win over Virginia, the Cavaliers' coach was asked why he didn't use that timeout before a hurried Clark threw a prayer of a pass up the court that was immediately picked off, setting the stage for JP Pegue's game-winning heroics. Even Bennett didn't seem to understand why.
“Yeah, either get tied up, call timeout in the dribble…I don't know if the refs were near me. We just kept running,” he told Connor O'Gara of Saturday Down South. “I don't know if Kihei thought no one's there, the clock's running out. Not sure. We should've called a timeout.”
At least Bennett admitted his egregious mistake, right? Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, that won't keep their hopes of deep run into March alive.
The Paladins beat Virginia 68-67, roaring back from a 12-point second half deficit during their first NCAA Tournament game in 43 years. Furman moves on to face the winner of San Diego State and the College of Charleston on Saturday in the second round of South Region action.
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