Well, if you wanted to see a wild first round with upsets, you didn’t have to wait long into the 2023 men’s NCAA tournament.
In the second game of the day, No. 13 seed Furman upset No. 4 Virginia on a go-ahead three by J.P. Pegues with 2.2 seconds remaining in the game. Furman would hold on to win, 68-67, and much of the postgame focus was on the Kihei Clark turnover that set up the entire play to begin with.
With a timeout remaining and Virginia up by two, Clark found himself doubled in the corner. And rather than use the timeout or try to take a foul, he just blindly threw the ball into traffic.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 😨
FURMAN WITH THE STEAL AND 3 TO TAKE THE LEAD WITH 2.2 SECONDS REMAINING #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fSCNKUzboq
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2023
After the game, Furman star Jalen Slawson still couldn’t believe that actually happened. Postgame video from the tunnel showed him describing that wild sequence.
Jalen Slawson: “He just freaking threw it!” pic.twitter.com/xMLCWtPMjD
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) March 16, 2023
He could be heard saying, “He just freaking threw the ball.”
It was such an uncharacteristic mistake for a player like Clark. But that’s the reality of March: One mistake can turn a game.
