Brandon Knight needed 39 minutes and 58 seconds to get on the board, but given that his first and only bucket of Kentucky's narrow win over Princeton on the real opening day of March Madness ended up being the game-winner, I'll assume he's satisfied.
VIDEO: Brandon Knight’s Game-Winning Layup Vs. Princeton, His Only Bucket Of The Game
Knight had gone 0-7 before slicing parallel to the paint and hitting his incredible, stretching lay-up. Knight, a freshman, was Kentucky’s leading scorer this season at 17.5 points per game; he’d only had one prior game in which he’d failed to reach double digits all season.
That Princeton nearly pulled off the upset as a No. 13 seed some 15 years after knocking off UCLA as a No. 13 seed was not lost on many viewers. In 1996, Princeton, still led by legendary coach Pete Carril, strangled UCLA’s pro style with its signature surgical offensive style relying on back cuts and off-ball movement. That on Thursday Princeton greatly limited Kentucky’s pro prospects -- Knight and forward Terrence Jones, who scored just 10 -- only to lose to an NBA-style isolation drive is sadly poetic as the college game continues to drift toward a miniature NBA. (Can we dub Knight’s lunging lay-up the “Reqiuem For Pete?”)
Video via @blazersedge.
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