Vanderbilt’s Mind-Boggling Foul Proves Costly In Loss Vs. Northwestern

Vanderbilt shot up the list of heartbreaking ways to lose an NCAA Tournament game with how its first-round matchup Thursday with Northwestern ended at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

It appeared the Commodores, the No. 9 seed in the West Region, were 17.8 seconds away from making it a short first ever taste of March Madness for the eight-seeded Wildcats after Riley LaChance’s layup gave Vanderbilt the lead.

But then this happened.

Yes, that’s right: Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis intentionally fouled Northwestern’s Bryant McIntosh with his team up by one. And that unfortunate mistake proved costly, as McIntosh drained both free throws and lifted the Wildcats to a 68-66 win.

So what happened?

“It was a collective effort in coming back, and it was my dumb mistake why we lost,” Fisher-Davis said, via ESPN.com.

It was a brutal way for the game to end for Fisher-Davis, who led Vanderbilt with 22 points.

Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images