Illinois senior Matthew Mayer lost his shoe during the first half in the opening round of March Madness against Arkansas.
Rather than immediately attempting to put the shoe back on his foot, however, the 23-year-old forward made a much stranger decision. After getting the ball in the backcourt, he passed it to a teammate and then he tossed his shoe onto the Illinois sideline.
Instead of calling a timeout, Illinois then ran a half-court possession with Mayer spotting up on the perimeter. Arkansas then forced a turnover, then Illinois quickly forced a turnover, then Arkansas forced yet another turnover.
The play that Matthew Mayer lost his shoe 😅 pic.twitter.com/lyBctr2LMz
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 16, 2023
Arkansas finally scored — Mayer wasn’t much help on defense with just one shoe on his feet.
While you might expect that by this point, Mayer would have found a quick moment to put the sneaker back on his foot, you would be mistaken!
Why didn’t Brad Underwood call a timeout? Why didn’t the officials blow their whistles to stop the play?
Matthew Mayer could have quickly put his shoe on as the Illini went downcourt with the ball. Instead, he played four possessions without it. Interesting dude.
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) March 16, 2023
Illinois shockingly ran one more half-court set, with Mayer once more spotting up on the perimeter. They missed their field-goal attempt, Mayer got back on defense, and Illinois got a stop.
It was finally time: After more than a minute of the game clock had passed, the forward was finally reunited with his missing sneaker.
This is assuredly one of the strangest sequences you will see during the tournament. But that’s why they call it March Madness, amirite?
