George Mason lost to UMass on dumbest foul of the college basketball season so far

George Mason University and UMass went down to the wire in an A-10 showdown this weekend, with GMU tying the game up at 65 with 1.2 seconds left to force OT. Unfortunately for them, however, overtime never even happened.

A George Mason player committed one of the worst fouls I’ve ever seen to hand the game to UMass:

UMass was a -3.5 favorite with a chance to cover in OT.

Instead, George Mason commits one of the dumbest fouls of the year with a second left to lose by one.

pic.twitter.com/an8RnkV8pm

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 3, 2024

That right there is the very definition of a tough watch. I’m going to be too hard on the kid, but, that was really, really, really, really stupid.

Not only is this awful for George Mason University’s team, but it’s also an absolutely brutal beat for anyone betting the spread on this game. Sure, it wouldn’t have been a guaranteed cover anyway, but to have the hope of overtime swiftly and unceremoniously snuffed out by a boneheaded maneuver had to be gutwrenching, to say the least.

I’ve seen some pretty awful decisions in my years as a sports fan, and this is almost up there with the likes of DeSean Jackson dropping the ball before crossing the goal line and JR Smith dribbling out the clock instead of calling a timeout in the finals.

If I had money on this game, I’d probably say something awful about this kid. But I didn’t, so I can’t help but feel bad for him.

Now, I don’t feel that bad, because I’m still writing this and posting it on the internet. Shock and anger drive engagement, so I’ve got to do my duty here. That’s just the business I’m in.

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