Big West Basketball Gives Gamblers A ‘Bad Beat Of The Year’ Candidate

Basketball bettors saw an early candidate for “Bad Beat of the Year” on Wednesday night in a matchup between UC San Diego and UC Riverside. The Big West ball game saw an improbable second half comeback and a brutal finish for those on the losing side of the spread.

Gamblers raced to social media to post immediate reactions on the unlikely beat, which has now gone viral online.

UC San Diego entered the game as a 3.5-point underdog. They exploded out of the gates, though, taking an early lead on their conference rival. The Tritons led by 13 at the halftime break, a number that would balloon to 18 points midway through the second period.

Then came the collapse.

UCSD scored just nine points over the final 11 minutes of action, allowing Riverside to get back in the game. They gave up the lead with less than a minute left, then saw the deficit grow to three points after a pair of late free throws.

Still, the +3.5-point spread was intact with just one second remaining in play. The Tritons then attempted a long inbound and quick three pointer, which led to a bad beat for bettors.

Riverside intercepted the inbound, but rather than run the final second from the clock, a player threw up an unnecessary three of his own. The shot miraculously banked in, leading to a six-point win for the Bears.

As if blowing the 18-point second half lead wasn’t bad enough, to then see five points scored in the final second of play? Brutal.

Sports bettors quickly responded to the finish with reactions online. Here’s what they had to say.

One person wrote, “Now this is a Bad Beat,” while another said, “There is literally no need to shoot that shot AT ALL. And it banked in.”

Tough scene.

Related: Illinois bettors suffer bad beat on game’s final play