The 5 best March Madness buzzer beaters ever

Let's dance!

When I was a kid, I would fake illness on the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I was a regular Ferris Bueller at it.

The reason was simple: This was my favorite two days of the year. Wall-to-wall basketball. It went from 12 pm eastern time until, well until my parents would force me to go to bed. (I usually made it through the first half of the 10 pm tipoffs.)

It was heaven for a basketball-addicted kid who thought, if I just grew, I would one day be playing college hoops too. (I was 6’3” tall in 8th grade. I am 6’3” tall today — at age 48. So…..I didn’t play college basketball.)

The tournament was great for lots of reasons but the one that made me keep coming back was the buzzer beater. The last- second fling — the further away the better — that ended the game. I believed then — and believe NOW — there is nothing more simultaneously dramatic/triumphant/soul-crushing in all of sports than winning or losing by the buzzer beater.

Over my three-plus decades, I’ve accumulated a catalogue of the best of the buzzer beaters — the ones that all you have to do is mention the two teams involved and any hoops head knows exactly what you are talking about.

So, I though I would share FIVE of my most memorable buzzer beaters below. These are ranked in my order of amazement in watching them.

What did I miss? Throw it in the comments section and I will add to this post!

1. Christian Laettner, Duke vs Kentucky, 1992 tournament

I was 16 years old. I HATED Duke. I HATED Christian Laettner even more (if that was possible). And I loved Kentucky — and their star player Jamal Mashburn.

I remember vividly where I was watching this game. We had just played a high school basketball game. My friends on the team were gathered at one of our buddy’s houses. We were ALL rooting for Kentucky. And then Laettner made what is, for me, the single most famous shot in the history of college basketball.

And, even 32 years later, I have NO idea how he had the time to catch the ball, fake right, pivot left AND get the shot off — all in 2.1 seconds.

2. Lorenzo Charles, NC State vs Houston, 1983 tournament

It’s hard to explain how big a deal the early 1980s Houston Cougars team really were. Dubbed “Phi Slamma Jamma” — and led by two future NBA Hall of Famers in Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler — the team had made it to the Final Four the previous year (they lost to eventual champions North Carolina, which had a freshman guard named Michael Jordan on the team) and it was assumed they would win the championship in 1983.

They smashed their way through the regular season (unbeaten in conference) and were a heavy favorite against the FAR less highly-touted Wolfpack led by coach Jim Valvano.

I remember watching this game on TV. Derek Wittenberg’s final desperation heave was clearly short. Houston was going to win. And then Charles just grabbed it out of the air and dropped it in the hoop. Cue pandemonium — and Valvano’s wild celebration that will be remembered for as long as they have March Madness.

3. Kris Jenkins, Villanova vs North Carolina, 2016 tournament

This could very well have been the #1 or #2 — and I wouldn’t be angry. Here’s my defense for ranking it where I did: The score was tied at 74 when Jenkins hit his shot — meaning that had he missed, the game would have just gone into overtime. So, slightly lower stakes than the Laettner shot. And not as big an upset as NC State over Houston.

I loved that Jenkins, a DC kid who played at the same high school where I played old man hoops, made the shot. I hated that it helped Villanova win — because, for a lifelong Georgetown fan, that was a dagger.

4. Jerome Whitehead, Marquette vs UNC-Charlotte, 1977 tournament

The scene: The national semifinal. Marquette was star studded with point guard Butch Lee and power forward Bo Ellis. (Lee was voted as the national player of the year by the Associated Press among others.) The 49ers had none other than Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell leading their squad.

After Maxwell hit a jumper to tie the score at 49, legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire called timeout with seconds left on the clock. The play he drew up was for Lee to heave the ball to the opposite foul line — where Ellis would grab it and take a shot.

But, Maxwell broke up the initial pass. The ball popped in the air where Whitehead grabbed it and laid it in — with Maxwell nearly blocking it. Marquette won 51-49 — and went on to beat North Carolina (led by Dean Smith) to win the school’s first (and only) national championship.

5. Tyus Edney, UCLA vs Missouri, 1995 tournament

UCLA was the #1 overall seed in the tournament— led by the O’Bannon brothers (Ed and Charles), freshman phenom Toby Bailey and the diminutive point guard Tyus Edney.

But, with 4.8 seconds left on the clock in the 2nd round, Missouri led 74-73. Enter Edney. He caught the inbounds pass at the free throw line — 75 feet from the hoop. At half court he went behind his back — and started a hard drive to his right. He jumped and, as he was falling, banked in a shot that gave UCLA the win.

The Bruins would go on to win the national championship that year — beating Nolan Richardson’s Arkansas Razorbacks 89-78 at the Kingdome in Seattle.