Santa Clara forces Kentucky into OT before faltering, just missing an epic March Madness upset

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Denzel Aberdeen of the Kentucky Wildcats and Brenton Knapper of the Santa Clara Broncos battle for the ball during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 20, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)


Santa Clara almost slew a basketball giant. Then March Madness happened.

It took head coach Herb Sendek a decade guiding the Broncos to snap the program's 30-year NCAA Tournament drought. Santa Clara's men's team last partook when former NBA two-time MVP and Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash played there.

A generation later, Sendek brought a group that did threw everything it could to earn a first-round upset against Kentucky. Santa Clara sophomore forward Allen Graves nailed a go-ahead three-point shot with only a few seconds left in regulation. The game appeared over -- until Kentucky senior guard Otega Oweh hurried a few paces past halfcourt to bank a miraculous buzzer-beater.

Overtime came and went in a blink, leaving the 10th-seeded Broncos on the short end of March Madness, losing 89-84 to the 7th-seeded Wildcats.

The moment never appeared too big for Santa Clara, which launched 3-pointers and swarmed to long rebounds like it had all year. Unabashed. Undeterred. Unwieldy.

Kentucky was up seven points, the largest lead by either team, with 12 minutes left in regulation. A neck-and-neck game to that point appeared at risk of slipping away. Then sophomore guard Sash Gavalyugov dribbled off a ball screen and, early in the shot clock, fearlessly let a 3 fly. Nothing but net.

The moment seemed a microcosm of the attitude Santa Clara brought with it to St. Louis, some thousands of miles away from home. A game that included 20 lead changes failed to faze the Broncos.

Santa Clara finished with four players in double figures, led by returning senior forward Elijah Mahi (20), and supplemented by Gavalyugov (16), Graves (17) and junior forward Jake Ensminger (14). Junior guard Christian Hammond, who paced the team with 15.8 points per game during the season, added 9 points.

This article originally published at Santa Clara forces Kentucky into OT before faltering, just missing an epic March Madness upset.

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