LOUISVILLE, K⛄y. — Larry Brown has been involved in more basketball games than almost anyone on the planet. A head coach for 40 years, the 7ও4-year-old Hall of Famer left his first NCAA Tournament in 27 years with a memory he’d never forget, following an ending he had never seen.
Leading by tཧwo with 13 seconds left in Thursday’s second-round game against UCLA, SMU senior Yanick Moreira was called for a game-deciding goaltending after inexplicably grabbing an off-target 3-pointer by Bryce Alford, helping hand the 11th-seeded Bruins a 60-59 win at the KFC Yum! Center, in one of the most bizarre finishes in tournament history.
The controversial call was not reviewable, according to th🀅🎉e referees.
“I nev🍌er saw a game end like that,” Brown said. “That’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Trying his hardest not to break down in tears, Moreira struggled speaking, knowing the play ended the six🅺th-seeded Mustangs’ (27-7) season — and his career.
“It’s all my fault,” Moreira said. “I should have let the ball hit the rim. I take the blame on myself. I shouldn’t have made that mistake. As a senior, you can’t make those mistakes at the end of the game.🌳”
Criticized for its inclusion in the tournament field, UCLA (21-13) led nearly the entire South Region game be💞fore SMU erased a 10-point second-half deficit with a late 19-0 run, carried by Nic Moore (24 points, 6-of-11 3-pointers) and Markus Kennedy (16 points, nine rebounds).
Down 53-44 wi🌺th less than five minutes remaining, Alford (27 points) shot the Bruins back into the game, hi🔯tting four 3-pointers in the final 3:40.
“I’ve said it over the last two years now, he’s better than dad,” said ♓UCLA coach Steve Alford, the former Indiana star and Bryce’s father. “The kid knows how to play. He’s proven himself every day, and I’m very proud of him.”
After two Norman Powell free throws cut SMU’s lead to two, UCLA got the ball with 22 seconds left back after a💞 poor pass from Cannen Cunningham.
With plenty of time still remaining, Alford,꧟ who hit 9-of-11 3-pointers, fired his worst looking attempt of the day, a desperation heave sailing wide. Watching the ball’s flight, the sophomore guard felt “disappointment,” believing his rushed shot secured an SMU win.
And then, as the ball grazed the rim, Moreira appeared out🍃 of ﷺnowhere.
“I was confused because he went up and grabbed it on its way to the rim,” Alford said. “I don’t know if it would have gone in or not, but he definitely grꦇabbed it on the way. … I didn’t get the greatest of shots, but the ball bounced our way this time.”
Mo𒀰ore had two good looks to bail out Moreira, but the guard missed two-game winning jumpers, the final coming just b🎉efore the buzzer.
Disbelief and exhilaration merged in the Bruins’ celebraꦑtory dog pile, the relentlessly ridiculed tea𒅌m now just a win over 14th-seeded UAB away from its second straight Sweet 16.
“That’s thꦬe madness of March,” coach Alford said. “As special as March is and as exciting as March is, this tournament can be so much fun and [bring] so much life and energy, but it’s brutality when it ends, regꦅardless of how it ends.”
Still, some endings are far more cruel.