Wichita St. Bettors Suffer Brutally Bad Beat Vs. FAU Thanks To Terrible Foul Call

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One of the toughest parts about betting on college basketball is dealing with poor officiating. Officials played a critical role in the Florida Atlantic vs. Wichita State game on Sunday, bailing out FAU with a very controversial late foul call that led to a bad beat. 

FAU entered the game as 7.5-point favorites on the road at Wichita State. The Owls are the #20 in the country and the Shockers are struggling in their first year under new head coach Paul Mills, entering Sunday at 10-13 and just 2-8 in AAC play. 

Wichita State Florida Atlantic FAU bad beat

(Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

FAU beat Wichita by nine points last month, and despite Wichita's struggles, they had a raucous crowd on a Sunday afternoon.

For the majority of the game, the contest stayed within the 7.5-point spread. But, Florida Atlantic went on a run late in the second half that saw them take a nine-point lead with six minutes left. It was the only time in the entire second half that FAU covered the spread. 

That didn't last, either. Wichita got it back to a six-point deficit 30 seconds later. 

Coming down the stretch, Wichita bettors had to feel good. Especially after Xavier Bell hit a three-point shot to give the Shockers a one-point lead with just 44 seconds left in the game. 

On the ensuing FAU possession, Shockers forward Quincy Ballard appeared to cleanly block a shot attempt by Owls guard Bryan Greenlee. But, officials called a foul on Ballard, sending Greenlee to the free throw line. 

He made both free throws to put FAU up by one. Still, things looked very good for Wichita State bettors. Down one with 30 seconds left, the only thing Shockers backers didn't want to see was overtime. 

Sure enough, FAU committed a foul on the ensuing possession and Wichita State hit one of the two free throws. No more points were scored and the game went to OT. 

You can guess what happened next. FAU blew out the Shockers in overtime, outscoring them 21-8 to easily cover the 7.5 points. 

Absolutely brutal beat in the college basketball betting world. 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.