Furman Stuns Virginia In First Upset Of Men’s NCAA Tournament

Furman stunned Virginia at Amway Center on Thursday in the first upset of the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The No. 13 seed Paladins was down five against the No. 4 seed Cavaliers, but senior forward Jalen Slawson helped led his team back, and Furman got their first lead of the game at the 5:02 mark in the second half.

Both sides battled it out until a costly turnover changed the game.

Virginia was up 67-65 with seven seconds left in the game. Senior guard Kihei Clark faced a double team as Furman went into a full-court press to force a turnover. That was successful as Clark chucked the ball up and junior forward Garrett Hien stole the ball and passed it to JP Pegues, who made what ended up being the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left.

A bettor at DraftKings Sportsbook placed a $2,200 wager on Furman +6.5, which paid out $4,200.02, according to communications associate Cassie Buontempo.

Westgate Sportsbook set the moneyline on Furman at +220. This means a $100 bet would have paid out $320.

The Furman-Virginia game was the most bet game at BetMGM, according to data specialist Drew O’Dell. The Paladins getting 5.5 points was the most bet team Thursday in tickets and handle.

Not everyone made it out cleanly, however. Only 18% of people who played ESPN’s Men’s Tournament Challenge picked Furman to advance, which meant 82% of brackets were busted.

March Madness got off to a great start, and this only was the opening set of games.