The Half Second Shot that Put Nova on Top

Moments after North Carolina's Marcus Paige hit an unreal out of balance 3 pointer to tie the national championship game up at 74 a piece, that Villanovas Kris Jenkins tossed the ball to their best shooter, Ryan Arcidiacono, with 4.7 seconds left to play. From 70 feet out, the final buzzer beater shot came off a flip from Arcidiacono to Jenkins. With a half second left in the game the ball flew through the air building on to the suspense of what is being called the greatest college basketball championship ending of all time. It wasn't a life or death shot, but if it went in they were champions. Jenkins said after the game, "When Arch threw me the ball it was one, two step, shoot em' up, and sleep in the streets." 

While the ball was in the air, many emotions rushed through the building and in the nation. A perfect shot to end a perfect game was the end result, and the nation was quick to react to it. A common meme theme throughout social media was pictures and videos of North Carolina great, Micheal Jordan, with his famous tears picture. Other videos and pictures were captured of the security guard on the court reacting to Jenkins shot with almost the perfect stunned reaction. Another reaction was of Charles Barkley jumping around the set, and going wild for Nova's victory. Sports Analysis, Rich Eisen, tweeted "That's exactly what you grow up dreaming about on the playground." I can speak from my personal childhood, that kids practice the "Three. Two. One... Crowd goes wild" approach. Many others reached out to congratulate and comment on the game over social media, and many labeled it the best college basketball finish of all time. 

So the big question was it the greatest college basketball finish of all time? Well, Villanova became the first team to win the national championship off a buzzer-beater since N.C State defeated Houston 54-52, in 1983. That came 4.7 seconds after UNC senior guard Marcus Paige hit an acrobatic clutch 3 point shot that tied the game up. The reaction from that throughout the building resulted in chaos. With two clutch shots coming back to back, how can this ending not be one of the greatest ever. Most analyst did not give Nova a chance in this game. With 12:46 remaining in the second half, Nova sophomore guard Phil Booth made a three that gave them a 49-46 lead. After that, the Tar Heels never regained the lead. In my mind, the underdog #2 seed Wildcat's finish to top the #1 seed Tar Heels was one of the greatest finishes that I have ever seen in a championship game. If you can argue against it I would love for your thoughts in the comment, but if you watched the game and reactions itd be hard to argue.