As the final shot hung in the air, Rienke Master had perfect vision.
He watched in horror from the Nebraska bench as Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner flew out from midfield, his shot looking eerily real.
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“It’s online,” Mast said.
One of the greatest buzzer-beaters in NCAA Tournament history will be remembered as the ultimate near miss. Tanner’s prayer hit the backboard, circled every part of the rim and bounced off, helping fourth-seeded Nebraska beat fifth-seeded Vanderbilt 74-72 in the second round.
When his shot didn’t fall, Tanner fell on his back, put his hands on his head, and then flopped to the arena floor in frustration. Heartbroken Vanderbilt teammates and coaches either hung their heads or cried in agony as their record-setting 27-win season ended with a win during the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
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Asked later by a reporter if he thought his shot would go in, Tanner nodded.
He added, his voice barely above a whisper, “It hurts to be so close.”
For Nebraska, seeing Tanner’s shot off the edge elicited vastly different emotions. The Huskers went from having their NCAA Tournament life flashing before their eyes to celebrating the school’s first trip to the Sweet 16.
Minutes after the game ended, Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was still shaking from nerves and adrenaline.
“When that thing was hanging in the air, I was like, ‘Oh my God, that thing is going in,'” he recalled
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Nebraska point guard Sam Hoiberg also feared the worst.
“My heart sank when the ball was in the basket and then out,” he said. “I think it took me half a second to realize it wasn’t going in.”
Price Sandford, Nebraska’s leading scorer, was more dramatic when describing his emotions when his shot nearly fell.
“Yeah, I almost died,” he said.
After decades of misery, Nebraska is sure to get some good luck on the basketball court. As we all know, this is the only power conference program that had never won an NCAA tournament game before Thursday’s first-round sweep of No. 13 seed Troy. Prior to this season, the Huskers had reached the NCAA Tournament only eight times.
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A large number of Nebraska fans descended on Oklahoma City on Thursday to watch the all-time best team end its drought before winning a hard-fought game against Vanderbilt two days later. There’s so much red in the building, you’d think both games were being played in Lincoln.
While Nebraska will look to continue playing either top-seeded Florida State or ninth-seeded Iowa next week in Houston, Vanderbilt will be upset at home about how close it came. Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington first said the Commodores were “one game away” from winning. He then corrected himself and said they were “just one step away from making the Sweet 16.”
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“It’s going to take a while for us to get over it,” Byington continued, “but I think at some point we’re going to look back and remember what an incredible journey this season has been.”
