Samford didn’t turn into pumpkin when midnight struck on the East Coast. In fact, it was the exact opposite as they stormed back from down 21 points in the second half after the clock struck midnight.
It was shaping up to be music to the public’s ears as a whopping 97% of the money was on Samford winning straight up at +255. Unfortunately, the comeback came up just short in an ending that’s already been highly scrutinized.
Samford had what looked like a clean block in a key moment with 15 seconds left. However, the referees called a controversial foul that prevented the Bulldogs from pulling off the upset.
Samford cut the lead to one-point with 20 seconds left in the game on a Jaden Campbell 3-pointer. Kansas inbounded and threw a deep pass to Nicolas Timberlake. It appeared he’d have an easy bucket when A.J. Staton-McCray came flying in for an incredible block. However, the refs blew the whistle, giving Timberlake a pair of field goals he sank instead of Samford getting the ball down by one. Instead, they had a chance to tie, but Jermaine Marshall missed his 3-pointer as the 4-seed Jayhawks held on for the 93-89 win.
The slightest consolation might be that the public largely backed them as 7-point dogs. 57% of tickets and 66% of the money against the spread was on Samford. Still, despite turning the public a profit on bets against the spread, the talk will be all about the apparently butchered call.
