Charles Barkley defends Santa Clara not fouling vs. Kentucky before Otega Oweh's game-tying shot

Kentucky‘s thrilling 89-84 overtime victory Friday might not have happened if Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek had been granted the timeout he was calling for after Allen Graves‘ dagger 3-pointer. The shot gave the Broncos a 73-70 lead with 2.4 left in regulation. Instead, the official closest to Sendek immediately turned and raced down the court just in time to watch the Wildcats’ Otega Oweh nail a buzzer-beater from just inside half-court to force overtime.

From that point, seventh-seeded Kentucky dominated the extra period and advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament with an epic come-from-behind victory on Friday in St. Louis. Following the game, CBS analyst Charles Barkley weighed in on the Santa Clara timeout controversy but wasn’t willing to assign blame to Sendek for not getting the foul call in quicker.

“I really think, in fairness, they got jobbed a little bit because when (Graves) made the heck of a shot for Santa Clara, I 100% – not 99, not 59 – I 100% of the time think you foul,” Barkley said postgame on CBS. “But because they didn’t call timeout, they didn’t have an opportunity. And the (Kentucky) kid just made a heck of a shot.

“I always believe you foul (there), but I’m going to give them a pass in that situation because they didn’t call timeout, and the kids didn’t know it, but (Oweh) just made a heck of a shot.”

Barkley wasn’t the only pundit to sound off on Santa Clara’s missed timeout.

Bruce Pearl defends officials not granting Herb Sendek timeout before Otega Oweh 3-pointer

Following Mark Pope’s squad notching an 89-84 overtime win over Santa Clara, much of the postgame conversation centered around the controversial late-game sequence. CBS analyst and former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl defended the officials not granting Sendek a timeout, pointing to the importance of possession in that split-second sequence.

“The two officials that are on trial need to be able to see two things,” Pearl said postgame on TNT. “When Herb was calling timeout, did Kentucky have the ball in their possession underneath the basket? … Because Kentucky had the ball, I’m okay that Herb did not get the timeout.”

Pearl’s interpretation hinges on a key rule. Teams can only be granted a timeout if they have clear possession. But in real time, officials must determine not only when the timeout is called, but also which team controls the ball. A nearly impossible task in a chaotic end-of-game scenario.

From Pearl’s perspective, that gray area makes the non-call defensible.

“I always tell my guys, get that ball through the net right away,” he explained, emphasizing how quickly teams must react to prevent situations like what Oweh did.

In the end, the no-call proved to be a game-changer. Oweh took advantage of the chaos, finishing with a career-high 35 points, including the clutch 3-pointer that forced overtime.