Epic Stuff

By now you've seen and re-seen the ending of the Gonzaga-UCLA men's basketball game from Saturday night.

If you didn't see it live, you missed one of the great endings you'll ever see anywhere in any game in any setting. TigerBlog had the game on his computer while he watched TV Saturday, and he only went over to the game full time for the final three minutes or so of regulation and the overtime.

UCLA, an 11th seed who needed overtime to get out of the First Four game, came really, really close to reaching the championship game. No team lower than an 11 seed has ever made the Final Four, and UCLA was the fifth 11 to make it that far. The other four 11s lost their semifinal games by an average of 11.5 points. 

In case you're wondering, the other four 11 seeds to reach the Final Four were: LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), Loyola (2018). 

TigerBlog vividly remembers when George Mason knocked off UConn to get the Final Four. He was at a Princeton men's lacrosse game on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium, and he was keeping stadium PA announcer Bill Bromberg updated on the score of that game.

The crowd sighed mightily when it was announced that the game was going to overtime, since everyone was rooting for the big underdog George Mason. And the ovation was huge when it was announced that George Mason had won, even though that announcement came shortly after the end of the lacrosse game.

When TB saw that the game was from 2006, he could not believe that 15 years had gone by already. That's craziness. 

As you know by now, the game Saturday night also featured more than its share of craziness. Gonzaga has been blowing teams out all year, while UCLA has been toughened by playing close game after close game. How would Gonzaga handle such a difficult moment? 

Pretty well, it turns out. The Zags could never shake UCLA, and in fact the Bruins came back from seven down to take the lead in the final two minutes of regulation. They also had a chance to win it at the end of regulation before a charge was drawn by Drew Timme (a good call, TB says).

This led to the overtime, where Johnny Juzang tied it with 3.3 seconds to play with his putback of his own miss. Then Suggs took the inbounds, went one dribble past midcourt and banked in the winner as time expired. 

TB was watching with the sound off, which made it even more surreal. This shows him what he missed on mute. Which one is the best?

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— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 4, 2021

It was clearly one of the greatest endings to a college basketball game ever, and it's even more amazing considering three things. First, the game was a Final Four game, which adds to the pressure. Second, it was close throughout, an incredibly exciting game from start to finish, as opposed to a game that just happened to be close at the end. 

Finally, Gonzaga was playing with the pressure of pursuing a perfect season. That has to be a burden. Keep that in mind next time a team says losing a game late in an unbeaten season was helpful.

There is a tendency to anoint games, or players, as the GOAT in the immediate aftermath of something spectacular. Was Gonzaga-UCLA up there? Yes. Is it the greatest game ever played, or the greatest ending to a college basketball game? No.

TigerBlog actually was researching something and stumbled across something he'd written a long time ago. Here it is:

So even with his disdain for making the over-the-top statement, TB will still throw this out there: Yesterday's game is up there with any game in any sport he's ever watched that wasn't played by the U.S. Olympic hockey team in 1980.

What game was he referencing?  

It was the 2012 Olympic semifinal women's soccer game between the United States and Canada. Remember that game? The heavily favored US won 4-3 on a goal late in stoppage time of the second overtime period. 

TB re-read that as he wrote about Diana Matheson for his women's history book. Matheson was the on the Canadian team that day, and she and her teammates had the unenviable task of having to come back three days later to play for the bronze medal against France.

Outshot 28-4, the emotionally and physically exhausted Canadians nevertheless won the bronze on Matheson's goal just before the end of regulation. It was one of the biggest moments any Princeton athlete has ever had and, TB supposes, the most-watched moment any Princeton woman athlete has ever had.

As for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, it'll be interesting to see what Gonzaga has left tonight in the final against Baylor, who cruised past Houston in the other semifinal Saturday. 

TB wants to see Gonzaga close out the perfect season, but turning it around so quickly after what happened Saturday won't be easy. He'll grudgingly predict a Baylor win, and he'll also predict it won't be as good a game as the one Saturday.