It looked like the Kentucky Wildcats‘ run in March was going to be a short one.
Facing 10-seeded Santa Clara on Friday afternoon, the No. 7 seed Wildcats fell behind by three on a go-ahead deep ball with 2.1 seconds left. With no timeouts, UK had no choice but to inbound the ball and get up court quickly.
Guard Otega Oweh drove the ball across halfcourt before chucking up a Hail Mary three, which banked off the backboard and through the net as the buzzer sounded. The clutch shot forced overtime, in which the Wildcats managed to pull away in what was ultimately an 89-84 win.
otega oweh forces overtime; santa clara vs kentucky pic.twitter.com/iyWn28iMYA
— ◇ (@F0RGIAT0) March 20, 2026
They advance to the Round of 32, where they’ll take on the winner of No. 2-seeded Iowa State and No. 15-seeded Tennessee State.
It’s been a somewhat disappointing year for the Wildcats and coach Mark Pope, who reached the Sweet 16 in his first campaign with his alma mater last season. A loss would have likely raised some questions heading into Year 3, but Pope’s team is still alive and will look to pull off an upset on Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Kentucky basketball avoids March Madness upset with buzzer-beater
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