The normally even-keeled Herb Sendek throws his hands up for a second, then rips them back down to his sides and stares at the floor as if he’d just seen a ghost. A few feet in front of him, Kentucky guard Otega Oweh is undergoing an out-of-body experience of his own while a few Kentucky players mob him along the sideline.
In that moment, Oweh and Sendek demonstrated the beautifully blissful and the jarringly demoralizing nature of March Madness’ Round of 64. Oweh had just authored the best moment of his polarizing Kentucky career, while Sendek was left to make sense of how an all-but-guaranteed win over Kentucky in the first NCAA Tournament game of his 10-season Santa Clara tenure was heading to overtime rather than ending in celebration.
Oweh had just banked in a heave from just a few feet in front of halfcourt. Sendek said he “unequivocally” called a timeout before Oweh could take the shot, but he wasn’t granted one. Sendek clearly raced down the sideline, motioning for a timeout in the moments after Santa Clara forward Allen Graves knocked down the go-ahead make from 3-point range seconds before Oweh’s shot, and appeared more perturbed that the official didn’t grant him a stoppage than he was about Oweh’s shot.
Santa Clara assistant Ryan Madry approached Sendek while Oweh celebrated and tapped his hands together to indicate that he saw Sendek calling a timeout. Sendek nodded vigorously in agreement, but walked towards the baseline seconds later to lead a pre-overtime huddle. Oweh’s shot didn’t end Santa Clara’s season, but it squashed Sendek’s team’s best chance at sealing a game that it eventually lost 89-84 in overtime.
