Lloyd Pierce in the building as Santa Clara nearly stuns Kentucky
Pacers assistant coach and Santa Clara alum Lloyd Pierce was in St. Louis as the Broncos pushed Kentucky to overtime before falling in a dramatic NCAA Tournament opener.
Indiana Pacers lead assistant coach Lloyd Pierce was on the verge of seeing his alma mater pull off a stunning upset to begin the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
With the Pacers not having a game on Friday, Pierce made the trip over to St. Louis — about a four-hour drive from Indianapolis — to support the Santa Clara Broncos. He played for the university from 1994-98, and he was part of the program’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996.
Hall of Famer and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash was the point guard on that team.
Pierce averaged 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game during his college career. After playing four seasons overseas, he returned to Santa Clara to begin his coaching career from 2002-07.
Thirty years later, Santa Clara was back in the 64-team field — and Pierce, a San Jose native, was courtside Friday afternoon.
No. 10 Santa Clara led 73-70 with 2.4 seconds left after Allen Graves swished a shot from the right arc. But the buzzer hadn’t sounded left.
7-seeded Kentucky quickly inbounded the ball to Otega Oweh, who raced it up the court and drilled a shot from just past mid-court as regulation expired.
He just got it off in time and banked it in.
Oweh finished with a game-high 35 points,
Kentucky went on to win 89-84, preventing the upset. The game was tightly contested throughout, and the Wildcats needed an extra session to survive and advance
Pierce and the Pacers (15-55) have 12 regular-season games remaining this season.
Up next: games at San Antonio on Saturday (8 ET) and at Orlando on Monday (7 ET).
