Gonzaga and UCLA delivered an instant classic on Saturday night, with the Bulldogs emerging victorious 93-90 in overtime. Jalen Suggs’ buzzer-beating 3 point shot to down the Bruins will be added to March Madness lore and replayed alongside iconic shots like Jordan’s jumper, and Laettner’s prayer for years to come.
“I’ve always wanted to run up on the table like Kobe and D-Wade and go like that, and that’s the first thing I did,” said Suggs after the game, still grinning from ear to ear. “Man, that is something that you practice on your mini-hoop as a kid or in the gym just messing around. And to be able to do that, it’s crazy.”
Few could have predicted the run that UCLA would go on to even get to the National Semi-Finals (as the miniscule .02% of brackets on ESPN.com with the Bruins in Final Four would indicate), let alone the scare they would give the undefeated Bulldogs. Heading into the game, many sports books had them as -15 point underdogs, with the line eventually settling around -14 prior to tipoff.
Evidently using this as fuel for the classic “nobody believes in us” motivation, the Bruins came out flying and stood toe to toe with the presumed favourites. UCLA’s ability to dictate the pace at which the game was played was impressive throughout. Often walking the ball up the court, and running through their sets on offense, Mick Cronin had his team chewing up the clock and reducing the amount of transition points the Zags were able to score.
Gonzaga’s one knock all season was that they had yet to be “tested” (as if winning every game except one by double digits heading into Saturday was somehow their fault). Well, that certainly can’t be said now, as the Bruins gave them all they could handle and then some, sending the game to overtime, and what many presumed would be a 2nd OT when they scored with a mere 3.3 seconds left on the clock.
Three dribbles and one 40 foot bank shot later however, and the Bulldogs were rushing the court, many of them still in disbelief over what just happened. Johnny Juzang, who led all scorers with 29pts in the contest, could only shake his head when he saw the ball drop through the mesh. He, like many others, believed that his put back moments before at the other end of the court would be sending the game to another extra frame. But such is life in March Madness, where anything can happen in a single elimination tournament.
Jalen Suggs (who is cousins with Baltimore Ravens star Terrell Suggs) was widely considered a top 10 NBA prospect heading into the tournament. With his strong play, and now an iconic shot on his resume, he may just have ensured that he’s a top 3 draft pick for whatever lottery team is lucky enough to land the freshman standout. Standing 6’4” the young floor general is being described as a more athletic Kyle Lowry. Often willing to forgo his own stats to ensure his team picks up the W, his compete level has scouts drooling over the thought of injecting him into their lineup (as lottery teams often lack that internal drive in their team cultures which is why they wound up in the lottery in the first place).
But don’t be fooled by his pass first attitude on most evenings. That is more a product of being on one of the strongest college basketball teams in recent memory than a sign of being passive. As evidenced by his 14pts/5.5rpg/4.6ast freshman stat line, and his ability to get to his spots at will on Saturday, Suggs will be an impact player at the next level and has the skill set to score when he needs to. After all, there are only a handful of teams in the country that the Bulldogs’ other backcourt weapon, Andrew Nembhard, wouldn’t be the focal point of the offense. This fact alone is perhaps the biggest indicator that Suggs is ready to be an impact guard in the NBA ranks than anything that shows up on the statsheet.
In a tournament full of upsets it took until overtime of the 2nd semi-final game for us to get our first buzzer beater of March Madness. And what a buzzer beater it was. While the Bruins can take solace in knowing they took Gonzaga to the brink, ultimately they fell just short, setting up a Baylor vs. Gonzaga final which many had penciled in from the get go. The two most explosive teams in the country will go toe to toe on Monday April 5th (9:20pm ET) with a National Championship on the line. The number 1 and number 3 team in the country in the AP top 25 poll prior to the tournament were previously slated to meet on December 5th in a game that would ultimately be cancelled due to COVID protocols. Now fans get the matchup they’ve been waiting for all season long with the stakes as high as they come in the world of college athletics. And if this game is anything like what we saw on Saturday night, then fans are in for something special.
Like Terrell Owens says, “Get your popcorn ready”.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @dynessports