The No. 13 Samford Bulldogs nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of their program on Thursday night. This is after they pushed No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks all the way to the end with what turned out to be a real spectacle between two unrelenting teams.
In the end, the Jayhawks were able to hold off a furious challenge from the Bulldogs to escape with a hard-fought 93-89 victory.
The win, however, came in a very controversial fashion.
Samford Bulldogs Heartbreakingly Lose to Kansas in First Round
The Bulldogs clawed their way back in the second half after trailing for the majority of the contest. Samford was able to cut the deficit to just one point with 20 seconds remaining courtesy of a clutch Jaden Campbell triple:
SAMFORD FOR THREE
MARCH!!! pic.twitter.com/T4CbB2rCYf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 22, 2024
Kansas was able to break Samford’s full-court press which saw Nicolas Timberlake with a wide-open chance to seal the game for the Jayhawks. However, Bulldogs guard A.J. Staton-McCray came up with a LeBron James-like chase-down block to prevent the deuce. Unfortunately for Samford, the referees deemed that there was illegal contact from Staton-McRay:
Foul or clean block? 👀 pic.twitter.com/A9qizLQf4f
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 22, 2024
Timberlake went on to sink both of his free throws, which pretty much served as the final nail in the coffin for Samford.
NCAA Twitter Going Crazy
To say that the folks on Twitter did not agree with the crucial foul call would be an understatement:
Damn… the NCAA referees just robbed Samford.
13-seed played their absolute hearts out against Kansas.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 22, 2024
The Ref Who Screwed Over Samford With One Of The Worst Calls You'll Ever See Should Never Be Allowed To Ref A Game Again https://t.co/cUgurc7XBA pic.twitter.com/kQFeNDXlZU
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 22, 2024
Samford was called for a foul…COME ON! This was ALL BALL pic.twitter.com/s01ifkrh53
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) March 22, 2024
SAMFORD WAS ABSOLUTELY ROBBED OF A POTENTIAL INSANE MARCH MOMENT. pic.twitter.com/cj4WqSiJt9
— Zach Bollinger (@zachbollinger18) March 22, 2024
SAMFORD WAS ROBBED. THIS IS ALL BALL pic.twitter.com/Mh0YZvMeTa
— Jacob Rhymer (@Rhymetime05) March 22, 2024
Samford got robbed.pic.twitter.com/qBk65Bo13Z
— Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) March 22, 2024
These refs deserve to be fired and thrown in prison for life. YOU ROBBED SAMFORD #NCAAB #MarchMadness #Kansas
pic.twitter.com/vqYr3WciCK— Brad (@BradKnowsBall) March 22, 2024
There’s a lot more where that came from, but you get the point.
Samford is now headed home while Kansas will live to fight another day. The Jayhawks will face No. 5 Gonzaga in the next round.
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