After holding serve in the first half Wednesday night, it looked like Kyle Neptune’s Villanova Wildcats were going to let their matchup with the Golden Eagles get away from them. Marquette would outscore Villanova 39-29 in the second half — with a 16-3 in the final moments — to wrestle away control from their Big East rivals.
This opened thee door to the wilting Villanova covering a +8.5 pregame spread. As Marquette took a 73-64 lead into the final moments, prospects for this outcome looked dicey. Then the Wildcats’ Mark Armstrong streaked up the court and found himself with an open lane. A clear shot for a dunk if anyone ever saw it. Bettors who had +8.5 were about to rejoice.
Except Armstrong missed it. Badly. He didn’t quite get enough arm extension, and the ball would rattle around the rim before falling into the waiting grasp of Marquette’s Kam Jones.
“Oof” doesn’t do this bad beat proper justice:
If you had Villanova +8.5, this just about sums up betting on college hoops: pic.twitter.com/oPKnlkVrB5
— Eli Hershkovich (@EliHershkovich) February 2, 2023
Here’s hoping for better luck next time. But if there’s one lesson to be learned: college basketball can be a precarious place to put sizable bets on.