The Florida-Wisconsin Sweet 16 game on Friday night (and early Saturday morning) was the most dramatic of the NCAA tournament so far. The key moments in this drama were remarkably similar, and they were separated by just a shade more than five minutes of clock time. One continued the game, and the other ended it.
Wisconsin and Florida hit identical 3-point runners at the end of regulation and OT
The Badgers had the coolest buzzer-beater of the NCAA tournament until Florida beat it with a game-winner.
Wisconsin was down by eight points with a minute and a half left in regulation. The Badgers cut the lead to three with a few makes and a few stops, and Zak Showalter had the ball in his hands in the final five seconds.
Showalter’s three-pointer was nonsense. He burrowed his head into the gut of Florida guard Chris Chiozza, trying to back him off or draw a foul. Chiozza decided to give Showalter a lot of space, though, and the Wisconsin guard stumbled out of balance.
Showalter had the body control to launch a running three-pointer, with his right foot planted just beyond the three-point arc at Madison Square Garden.
It went in. Overtime.
Florida chomped back in the meanest way possible.
Overtime was dramatic.
With four seconds left, Wisconsin had an 83-81 lead. The Gators had to inbound from their own baseline, and they gave the ball to Chiozza. Wisconsin wasn’t able to prevent Chiozza from gaining a head of steam. He darted past mid-court and put up his own running triple. He had his right foot planted, not his left.
It went in. Game over.
There’s not much to say to Wisconsin other than, “That’s a shame.”
Showalter’s three-pointer was great. Chiozza’s was great, too. The operative difference is that Chiozza’s put Florida ahead with zero seconds left. It’s hard to beat that.
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