The No. 13 Furman Paladins started off the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a bang on Thursday afternoon upsetting the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers 68-67.
The Paladins pulled off the upset on a three-pointer in the final seconds of the second half, as Virginia’s Kihei Clark looked to push the ball up the court trying to stop Furman from getting to the ball or from fouling him.
His heave to half-court, however, would be intercepted by Furman’s Garret Hien who would get the ball quickly to JP Pegues who would knock down the game-winning three with just over two seconds remaining. It was Pegues’s only made three-pointer of the afternoon, missing each of his other three attempts while being 3-for-9 from the floor for the game.
The three-pointer for Pegues also helped cap off a 12-point comeback in the final 12 minutes by the Paladins.
For Virginia, the crucial turnover by Kihei Clark puts an end to his collegiate career. A career that is ironically headlined by a terrific pass he made as a true freshman in Virginia’s 2019 NCAA title.
In the dying seconds of Virginia’s Elite Eight matchup that season against Purdue, Clark would round up a loose ball on the other side of half-court before throwing a bullet of a one-handed pass to Mamadi Diakite who would tie the game at 70-70 and send the game to overtime. They would go on to beat Purdue 80-75, before defeating Auburn 63-62 in the Final Four and eventually defeating Texas Tech 85-77 in the national championship game.
With the victory, Furman now awaits the winner of No. 5 San Diego State vs No. 12 Charleston.