A South Carolina State player cost his team a potential NCAA Tournament bid with an unbelievable mental error in the final moments of Saturday’s MEAC Championship game.
SC State forward Caleb McCarty seemingly lost track of the score and committed an intentional foul in a tie game with 8.9 seconds left. McCarty had just scored off a Norfolk State turnover to tie the game at 65, but he obviously thought Norfolk State was still ahead.
MAHEM IN THE MEAC CHAMPIONSHIP!! SC State gets the steal and tying layup on the inbounds before Caleb McCarty FOULS Norfolk State with 8.9 remaining while TIED. 💔💔
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) March 15, 2025
Norfolk State wins and is going to the NCAA tournament 66-65 pic.twitter.com/a8cls0oyTA
McCarty’s mental error sent Norfolk State’s Christian Ings to the free throw line, where he made one out of two shots. That was enough for a 66-65 win, as SC State’s Jayden Johnson missed a potential game-winning shot at the other end.
It is certainly possible that Norfolk State would have been able to hit a game-winning shot even if McCarty had been aware of the game situation. If not, the game would have likely headed to overtime. McCarty, however, effectively handed the Spartans a pretty straightforward opportunity to win the game without even having to make a play.
McCarty undoubtedly feels awful over this mistake, but the entire SC State team will be hurting after this one. They led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and staged a remarkable comeback from ten points down with two minutes left to tie it in the final minute. To lose like that after such an effort is absolutely crushing.
