James Johnson scissors between two Duke players for the game-winning layup Wednesday in Joel Coliseum -- one of 3 buzzer-beaters on the night involving local teams.
Wednesday night showcased again why it's a great thing to live in this state during college basketball season.
It was a cornucopia of hoops, including 3 buzzer beaters launched and hit by 3 teams that may go deep in the NCAA tournament in March.
In order of their importance:
1) Wake Forest forward James Johnson took a pass off a perfectly-executed inbounds play and hit the ensuing layup in traffic to beat Duke, 70-68, and knock off the No.1 Blue Devils.
2) North Carolina's Ty Lawson hit a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to break a tie with FSU and edge the Seminoles, 80-77.
3) Davidson's Stephen Curry slung one in from about 75 feet at the halftime buzzer in the Wildcats' 22-point win over Chattanooga. This one had the hardest degree of difficulty, but also mattered the least.
All that, and a new episode of "Lost," too. Quite a night. It just reminded me how good this time of year can be.
I once lived in Miami for four years. The weather was beatiful January through March, the college basketball buzz was next to nothing. College hoops there is treated about as well as we in N.C. treat, say, professional soccer. It's considered nothing more than a niche sport there with a cult following.
All in all, I'll take the colder weather -- and the hotter hoops.
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1 comment:
Scott, part of the "perfect execution" was James Johnson's uncalled push-off on Gerald Henderson before he got the ball. Do you make that call at the end of the game? Probably not, but the officials didn't have a problem calling that ridiculous traveling call on Henderson to give Wake the ball to begin with.
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