Samford and Bucky Ball made believers and dreamers out of the country here in Salt Lake City, but they’ll be talking about that late foul call for a long time in Homewood, Alabama.

Playing in its first NCAA Tournament in 24 years, Samford roared back from a 22-point deficit against Kansas on Thursday night in the first-round here in Salt Lake City. The Bulldogs flirted with history, and magic floated in the air with every breath, but the Jayhawks held on for the 93-89 victory.

It was so close.

The game came down to the last minute and a controversial foul call on Samford’s A.J. Staton-McCray was enough to keep Kansas alive. Staton-McCray was whistled for a foul as Kansas’ Nicolas Timberlake went up for a breakaway dunk. Timberlake made both free throws to give Kansas a 92-89 lead with 14.7 seconds to play.

On review, Staton-McCray appeared to make a beautiful play on the ball. His chase down block will live in March Madness infamy.

“Clean,” McCray said after the game. “I feel like it was a great play by me. Terrible call.”

America will always and forever agree.

The Delta Center here in Salt Lake City was chanting “Sam-ford! Sam-ford! Sam-ford!” by the end.

“I was confident we were going to win it,” said Samford coach Bucky McMillan, who wouldn’t blame the game on the late call but said it would have been an all-time NCAA Tournament moment if Samford would have had the ball and a numbers advantage in the open court with a chance to win it in the end.

Samford, champions of the SoCon tournament for the first time, finished the season 25-6, setting a school record for wins. The team won an NCAA-best 17 games in a row en route to the SoCon’s regular-season crown. The Bulldogs’ relentless pressing style of basketball — Bucky Ball — lends itself to large comebacks, and Samford found itself down one with 19.9 seconds left after a thunderous dunk by Achor Achor and a 3-pointer by Jaden Campbell.

K.J. Adams, Jr., led Kansas with 20 points and center Hunter Dickinson had 19. Achor scored 23 points for Samford despite leaving the game twice with cramps in his left calf. Kansas shot 69.2 percent in the first half, but Samford countered in the second with 51 points.

“We’ll be back,” McMillan said.