Vanderbilt’s hopes of March Madness glory were crushed after a last-gasp, half-court heave somehow failed to drop, in a brutal finish to their game with Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers reached the Sweet 16 with a 74-72 win in a clash that went right to the death in Oklahoma City.
The two teams were tied with nine seconds on the clock, before Nebraska guard Pryce Sandfort passed to forward Braden Frager, who drove towards the basket.
His layup gave Nebraska a two-point lead with 2.2 seconds left. That left just enough time for Vanderbilt star Tyler Tanner to dribble towards halfcourt and send a shot into the sky.
After the clock hit zero, the ball crashed off the center of the backboard and dropped halfway below the rim – and then, somehow, it rattled out, and Nebraska escaped.
Cue wild celebrations from the Cornhuskers and heartbreak for Vanderbilt. Some players and coaches hit the floor in disbelief.
Vanderbilt saw a last-gasp, half-court heave fail to drop in their clash with Nebraska
The ball crashed off the backboard and dropped halfway below the rim – then it rattled out
‘My heart sank as that ball went in the hoop and went out,’ Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg said. ‘I think it took me a half a second to register it didn´t go in, and then I just screamed in elation. I thought it was in.’
Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort summed it up: ‘I just about died.’ Instead, Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
Tanner, a 6ft sophomore, scored 27 points in front of a hostile crowd of scarlet-and-cream-clad Nebraska supporters who made the roughly six-and-a-half-hour drive from Lincoln. And for a split second, he thought he would send them home in stunned silence.
‘It hurts pretty bad being that close, especially (in a) hard-fought game,’ said Tanner, who made nine of 21 field goals and had four steals and four assists.
‘That last shot, man, it just took my breath away,’ Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. ‘That kid is an unbelievable player. When that thing was up in the air, I was, like: “Oh, man, that’s going in.” Then hit every part of the rim. Thankfully bounced out, and we are looking forward to next week.’
All because of a ball that went part of the way, but somehow not all the way, through the hoop.
‘The hardest thing when you’re in a tournament like this is there’s a side of it with hurt and dejection, and you put everything into it,’ Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said.
