Santa Clara Loses a Heartbreaker to the University of Kentucky in a Phenomenal First Round Matchup
Sash Gavalyugov ’29 puts his hands on his head after Kentucky’s Otega Oweh hit a buzzer beater to tie the game and send it to overtime. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
ST. LOUIS, MO — Santa Clara University men’s basketball was defeated by the University of Kentucky 89-84 on Friday, March 20, in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The Broncos received an at-large bid to March Madness for the first time since 1996.
The Broncos got off to a slow start from the jump, trailing 5-0 early, but quickly responded with a 9-2 run of their own. The team settled in to take an 11-10 lead with under 14 minutes left in the first half.
One key aspect of the game for the Broncos was avoiding foul trouble, but first-year star and WCC Sixth Man of the Year Allen Graves ’29 picked up two early fouls and had to sub out of the half.
Broncos head coach Herb Sendek decided to bring Graves back early, just four minutes later. The move proved costly as Graves picked up his third foul with less than eight minutes remaining in the half and had to be benched again by Sendek.
In the first half of the game, the Wildcats’ largest lead was six points. However, the Broncos went into the break leading 31-29. The Broncos shut down the Wildcats throughout the period with stifling defense, forcing seven Kentucky turnovers and holding them to just three free throw attempts.
When asked what they needed to do in the next 20 minutes to pull the upset, “Keep playing hard. Do our job. We’ll come out with the win,” said Elijah Mahi ’26 at the halftime interview. He led the first half with 10 points.
Jake Ensminger ’27 pushes the ball past his defender after stealing the ball. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
The Wildcats came out of the half, firing with two three-pointers, and took their largest lead of the game at 51-44.
After two threes by Mahi and Sash Gavalyugov ’29, the Broncos cut the deficit to just one. Gavalyugov was on fire in the second half and converted his third three-pointer shortly after to give the Broncos a 59-55 lead.
Gavalyugov has received much attention since his “night night” game-winning three-pointer against Saint Mary’s in the semifinal game at the WCC tournament. Gavalyugov had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists in the game.
After a run by the Wildcats, Graves, who came back to the game in the second half, continuously drove to the basket and got to the free-throw line.
Allen Graves ’29 closes his eyes before shooting a free throw in the second half. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
The game was tied at 68 with less than two minutes left in the game. Graves converted a crucial put-back on a Mahi airball as the shot clock was winding down to give the Broncos a 70-68 lead with 1:33 to play.
Kentucky tied up the game at 70. With 10 seconds left in the game, Graves drilled a three-pointer with two seconds to go. The Wildcats made a game-tying three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime.
When asked about his end-of-game sequence, “I unequivocally called timeout, but they didn’t grant it. I think the video evidence is clear. And anybody’s able to pull it up, which is a likely response after Allen hits the three that the coach would be calling timeout to set the defense. Which I tried to do, and I was successful in doing, other than it wasn’t acknowledged or recognized,” said Sendek.
The Broncos struggled mightily on the defensive end in the overtime period as all of Kentucky’s shots came within 4 feet of the basket.
Two three-point attempts by Gavalyugov were blocked by Kentucky’s Brandon Garrison. The Wildcats set the NCAA tournament record for most blocks in a game with 11 in the contest. The Broncos simply couldn’t recover, and their historic season came to an end.