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As the final shot hung in the air, Rienk Mast had the perfect view.
He watched in horror from his seat on Nebraska's bench as Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner let fly from beyond mid-court, and his shot appeared alarmingly true.
"It was right on line," Mast said.
What would have been one of the greatest NCAA tournament buzzer beaters of all time will instead be remembered as the ultimate near-miss. Tanner's prayer hit the backboard, circled every part of the rim and bounced out, preserving fourth-seeded Nebraska's 74-72 second-round victory over fifth-seeded Vanderbilt.
When his shot did not fall, Tanner fell flat on his back, put his hands on his head and then slammed the arena floor in frustration. Heartbroken Vanderbilt teammates and coaches bowed their heads or cried out in anguish as their program-record 27-win season ended one victory shy of the NCAA tournament's second weekend.
Asked by reporters later if he thought his shot was going in, Tanner nodded.
Voice barely above a whisper, he added, "It hurts pretty bad being that close."
For Nebraska, the sight of Tanner's shot rimming out elicited far different emotions. The Huskers went from having their NCAA tournament life flash before their eyes to celebrating their school's first-ever Sweet 16 trip.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was still shaking with nerves and adrenaline minutes after the game ended.
"When that thing was up in the air, I was like, 'Oh man, that's going in,'" he recalled
Nebraska point guard Sam Hoiberg also assumed the worst.
"My heart sank as that ball went in the hoop and then went out," he said. "I think it took me half a second to register that it didn't go in."
Nebraska leading scorer Pryce Sandfort was even more dramatic when describing his emotions as the shot nearly went down.
"Yeah, I just about died," he said.
Nebraska was certainly due some good fortune on the basketball floor after decades of abject misery. This is famously the only power-conference program that had never won an NCAA tournament game prior to Thursday's first-round annihilation of 13th-seeded Troy. The Huskers had only even made the NCAA tournament eight times prior to this season.
A massive turnout of Nebraska fans descended upon Oklahoma City to watch the best team in program history end the drought on Thursday and then win a back-and-forth nail-biter against Vanderbilt two nights later. There was so much red in the building that you'd have thought both games were played in Lincoln.
While Nebraska will look forward to trying to continue its run against either top-seeded Florida or ninth-seeded Iowa next week in Houston, Vanderbilt will stew at home about how close it came. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington first said the Commodores were "a play away" from winning. Then he corrected himself and said they were "an inch away from being in the Sweet 16."
"It's going to take awhile for us to get over, " Byington continued, "but I think there's going to be a point where we'll look back and think of the unbelievable journey this season has been."
Continue reading...
He watched in horror from his seat on Nebraska's bench as Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner let fly from beyond mid-court, and his shot appeared alarmingly true.
"It was right on line," Mast said.
What would have been one of the greatest NCAA tournament buzzer beaters of all time will instead be remembered as the ultimate near-miss. Tanner's prayer hit the backboard, circled every part of the rim and bounced out, preserving fourth-seeded Nebraska's 74-72 second-round victory over fifth-seeded Vanderbilt.
When his shot did not fall, Tanner fell flat on his back, put his hands on his head and then slammed the arena floor in frustration. Heartbroken Vanderbilt teammates and coaches bowed their heads or cried out in anguish as their program-record 27-win season ended one victory shy of the NCAA tournament's second weekend.
Asked by reporters later if he thought his shot was going in, Tanner nodded.
Voice barely above a whisper, he added, "It hurts pretty bad being that close."
For Nebraska, the sight of Tanner's shot rimming out elicited far different emotions. The Huskers went from having their NCAA tournament life flash before their eyes to celebrating their school's first-ever Sweet 16 trip.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was still shaking with nerves and adrenaline minutes after the game ended.
"When that thing was up in the air, I was like, 'Oh man, that's going in,'" he recalled
Nebraska point guard Sam Hoiberg also assumed the worst.
"My heart sank as that ball went in the hoop and then went out," he said. "I think it took me half a second to register that it didn't go in."
Nebraska leading scorer Pryce Sandfort was even more dramatic when describing his emotions as the shot nearly went down.
"Yeah, I just about died," he said.
Nebraska was certainly due some good fortune on the basketball floor after decades of abject misery. This is famously the only power-conference program that had never won an NCAA tournament game prior to Thursday's first-round annihilation of 13th-seeded Troy. The Huskers had only even made the NCAA tournament eight times prior to this season.
A massive turnout of Nebraska fans descended upon Oklahoma City to watch the best team in program history end the drought on Thursday and then win a back-and-forth nail-biter against Vanderbilt two nights later. There was so much red in the building that you'd have thought both games were played in Lincoln.
While Nebraska will look forward to trying to continue its run against either top-seeded Florida or ninth-seeded Iowa next week in Houston, Vanderbilt will stew at home about how close it came. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington first said the Commodores were "a play away" from winning. Then he corrected himself and said they were "an inch away from being in the Sweet 16."
"It's going to take awhile for us to get over, " Byington continued, "but I think there's going to be a point where we'll look back and think of the unbelievable journey this season has been."
Continue reading...
