Those plays included McIntosh’s shot in the lane, Dererk Pardon’s two free throws after a rebound of McIntosh’s miss then McIntosh’s shots after Fisher-Davis fouled him. Vandy’s final heave was launched too late, and the Wildcats and their fans could celebrate.
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“I made a dumb*** foul”, a stoic Fisher-Davis told reporters in the locker room following the game.
After a slow start, Bluiett came through with 18 second-half points to help the Musketeers rally from an early 6-point deficit. Outside of foul trouble in the first half, he had 25 points on 10-16 shooting, 3-5 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the line.
But seconds after the in-bounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling up the backcourt.
“When he grabbed me, I had thought we were down one, and I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake”, he said. For Vanderbilt, Luke Kornet scored 14 points, and LaChance chipped in 12. That ended up being the deciding play, as Northwestern won 68-66 to give the program its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
He said the big shots at the charity stripe did not exactly match vision he had as he dreamed of March Madness in past years, practicing at the gym. Northwestern shoots only 34.1% from beyond the arc and wouldn’t need that shot.
“It was the same as it has been all year: resiliency”, Fisher-Davis said. “But to be able to do that at the free throw line was very relaxing”. Jackrabbit star Mike Daum managed 17 points and 7 rebounds, which was impressive but below his 25 point per game average and not almost enough to tackle the Zags.
No one remember the shots that come before the game victor, but if McIntosh had missed the shot that put Northwestern up 63-62 with 1:12 left, there very well may have not been a chance at a game victor. He watched helplessly as McIntosh made his only two free throw attempts of the afternoon. “You envision yourself hitting the game-winner”.
Vanderbilt’s boner made for exasperated March Madness viewers when the Commodores appeared to intentionally foul themselves out of the lead and out of the NCAA Tournament’s first round. “Certainly, I was surprised”.
As the score swung back and forth, and his son’s team finally prevailed, Collins physically lived and died on live TV.
Though NU was undoubtedly the beneficiary of a Vanderbilt mental error, Collins will take it. That just makes us feel for him more. It was such a happening that Wildcats fans outnumbered those of every other team in Salt Lake-including the fanbase of their next opponent, No. 1 Gonzaga-and included former star players (Evan Eschmeyer, Tavares Hardy, Kevin Coble) and arguably the school’s most famous basketball-world alum: a non-player, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.
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So Vandy inbounds and puts up a long three to try and win it.
