At one point, Obama explained a goaltending call to the prime minister — the only really good play in the sloppy opening minutes. Western Kentucky missed 11 of its first 13 shots and had five turnovers.
At that point, it might have reminded the president of some of those pick-up games he plays for fun in Washington.
Burwell took the game into his hands at the start of the second half. He made sure he got the president's attention after hitting a 3 in front of him, turning to make an eye connection.
With a win only minutes away, the Delta Devils came apart against a full-court press, repeatedly losing the ball as they tried to rush down the court.
"I thought it was just our guys got rattled, got excited, and got a little bit beside themselves," coach Sean Woods said. "Normally in a situation like that, maybe it's one guy or two. But when it's all five, it was like a snowball effect."
Burwell had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, shooting another 3 in front of Obama. It missed and Cor-J Cox had a putback at the buzzer that left the Delta Devils a point short.
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