SPORTS Illustration By Jacob Meyer
ess moments of the last decade Aggies defense, Texas A&M did the impossible and rallied to send the game to overtime. After Northern Iowa failed to finish the Aggies in the first overtime, the Panthers ran out of gas as the Aggies won the game, 92-88, in one of the most catastrophic collapses in sports history. It ended what was a great season for the Panthers, especially after they beat the Texas Longhorns, 75-72, on a buzzer-beater two days prior. The sheer shock of the collapse is what makes this moment an unforgettable one in the history of the tournament. 3. Wisconsin defeats undefeated Kentucky in the Final Four 71-64 In 2014, guard Aaron Harrison’s 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left led the Kentucky Wildcats to a 74-73 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four. A year later, the Badgers, with center Frank Kaminsky and forward Sam Dekker among others returning for one more run at a championship, met Kentucky once again in the Final Four. However, Kentucky came in as the favorites with a perfect 38-0 record and a roster featuring future NBA talents Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns. Wisconsin was not fazed by the star-studded Wildcats and went toe-to-toe with Kentucky. Dekker made his mark on the game with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:41 left to break a 60-60 tie.
Wisconsin held on and got its revenge on Kentucky, winning 7164 and advancing to the National Championship game. Even though Wisconsin lost two days later against the Duke Blue Devils, 68-63, the Badgers got their revenge against Kentucky and prevented one of the greatest college basketball teams ever assembled to run the table and go 40-0. It was a wellplayed matchup and a classic example of revenge in sports. 2. No. 16 UMBC stuns No. 1 Virginia 74-54 While filling out March Madness brackets, it is typical to immediately fill in the 16 seed losing to the No. 1 seed. Until 2018, a 16-seed had never defeated a No. 1 seed in tournament history. On March 16, 2018, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County looked to become the first 16-seed to accomplish this feat after the previous 135 teams failed to do so, taking on the juggernaut Virginia Cavaliers in the round of 64. UMBC came out firing from long distance in the second half, dominating Virginia with aggressive defense and pinpoint shooting. UMBC, to the awe of nearly everyone watching, pulled away and defeated Virginia, making history with a resounding 74-54 victory. This game showed that even a top seed in the round of 64 is not safe, and with the Cavaliers eliminated, it shook up the bracket and
made the first weekend of that tournament one of the craziest in the competition’s history. It was a historic and proud moment for underdogs everywhere. 1. Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater wins the national championship for Villanova in 2016 As great as UMBC’s win over Virginia was, the ending of the 2016 national championship game between North Carolina and Villanova is unquestionably the greatest moment of the decade in college basketball. After a thrilling back-and-forth matchup between the two best teams in the tournament, North Carolina guard Marcus Paige hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left to tie the game at 74. On Villanova’s ensuing possession, point guard Ryan Arcidiacono passed it to forward Kris Jenkins on the perimeter, who drilled the 3-pointer as time expired to give Villanova their second-ever National Championship. It is only the second buzzer-beater in a national title game — the other coming in 1983 — and the only 3-pointer among the two. It was the perfect culmination of a great battle between two worthy adversaries, and with two amazing shots in the last five seconds, it was the best moment of the decade in March Madness.
MARCH 4, 2021 – MARCH 10, 2021 | THE LUMBERJACK
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