Furman gave UConn everything it had during the first round of March Madness. The Huskies took advantage of the clock rules for college basketball to secure a double-digit victory in the fourth quarter.
However, their strategy killed the spread for sports bettors.
This unique college basketball clock strategy proved to be the right decision for the eventual victors. It also proved to be a horrendous bad beat.
UConn took an intentional shot clock violation.
No. 15-seed Furman played extremely tight with No. 2-seed UConn during the first half. The Paladins trailed only by four points at the break.
They hung around during the second half but never quite got back into the game. The Huskies went up by as many as 11 points and never allowed their opponent to get within six or less.
It was a poor showing by the Big East runners-up that still resulted in a victory. Dan Hurley made sure of it with a unique clock management decision with less than one minute remaining.
The game had already become a free throw contest. Furman started to foul at the 1:13-mark to try and extend the clock in its favor. UConn kept knocking them down.
The Huskies held an 82-69 lead with just 42 seconds to play. They also had possession.
Instead of trying to draw another foul or to extend their lead even further with a layup or a triple, Hurley instructed his offense not to shoot.
UConn held the ball for the entire 30-second shot clock to take an intentional shot clock violation. That gave possession back to the Paladins, down 13, with only 12 seconds left.
It was a way to guarantee a win.
College basketball bettors lost the spread.
UConn closed as a 12.5-point favorite over the Southern Conference champions. They were up by 13 points with 42 seconds remaining.
Furman had fouled on its last three possessions. Its only chance to extend the game even further was to foul again. It did not do so. The Paladins accepted defeat and played hard on defense.
The Huskies took the aforementioned shot clock violation to put the proverbial nail in the coffin.
This is where it got gross. The score held firm at 82-69. The 12.5 point spread was still in play— especially if Furman fouled. Especially if UConn finished the possession with a bucket.
Neither of those things happened.
The shot clock violation gave the ball back to the Paladins with 12 seconds remaining. They quickly drove the length of the court to make an easy layup to cut the score to 82-71.
The Huskies ran out the clock to win by 11. They did not cover the spread.