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This Day In Sports…April 3, 2021, five years ago today:
Arguably the best college basketball game of all-time—especially happening when it did—as Gonzaga outlasts UCLA 93-90 in overtime at the Final Four. The top-seeded Bulldogs had won 27 consecutive games by double-digits and were solid favorites over the 11th-seeded Bruins, only the second team ever to go from the First Four to the Final Four. But then came a game with 19 lead changes and 16 ties, with the Zags and UCLA combining to shoot 58 percent from the field. Oh, and one fantastic finish.
It appeared to be headed toward a second OT when, with the score tied 90-90 and 3.3 seconds remaining in the first OT, Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert inbounded to Jalen Suggs in the backcourt. Suggs raced up the floor on three long dribbles, the last as he approached the midcourt line. After another stride, Suggs launched the ball over UCLA defender David Singleton, who was careful not to foul, with about a second to go. The shot banked in from 40 feet at the buzzer, the definition of March Madness. The Zags improved to 31-0 and advanced to the championship game, where they lost 86-70 to Baylor.
It was a captivating moment one year after the entire NCAA Tournament had been wiped out by COVID-19. With pandemic concerns still dominating the sports landscape, the 2021 tournament was moved to the state of Indiana. All arenas were limited to 25 percent of capacity. The First Four was held in Bloomington and Lafayette, which also hosted some first and second round matchups. The rest of the games were played at venues in Indianapolis, with Lucas Oil Stadium the site of the Final Four and championship games. Of the cities that lost a chance to host tournament games that year, only Boise has not seen the event return.
Debate over the best game-winning shot in NCAA Tournament history is front-and-center after UConn’s Braylon Mullins nailed a three-pointer last Sunday to stun Duke after a mad scramble in the final seconds. People instantly compared it to the turnaround jumper by Duke’s Christian Laettner that beat Kentucky in 1992, the putback dunk by North Carolina State’s Lorenzo Charles that took down Houston in 1983 and the buzzer-beating three by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins that edged North Carolina. Suggs’ shot for the Zags has been short-changed in that discussion.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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