This is why we all live for March Madness. Every year there's a moment when someone hits a game-winning shot that will get us out of our seats to celebrate or share the team's pain when you know the season is over. Ohio State Buckeyes forward Evan Turner, national player of the year candidate, gave us a prelude of what could happen in the NCAA tournament next week.
When I turned from the ACC quarterfinal game between Duke and Virginia, I noticed the Michigan Wolverines were up 68-66 against the Buckeyes with 2.2 seconds left and were on there way to an upset victory. You knew Evan was going to get the ball in the last couple of seconds. Players, coaches, and fans get so nervous in these moments. You see people in the stands either praying for a miracle, teammates holding hands on the sidelines, everyone at home and at bars anxious that their team will just make that basket. Then the drama begins.
Evan takes the ball and dribbles it down court. We he heads to the other end of the court, he was defended by Wolverines Stu Douglass. With a few tenths of a second left, he lets a 37-foot jumper out of his hands while Stu had his hand in his face. As the ball is heading to the basket, the Buckeyes chances at a possible number one seed in the tournament relies on this shot. Then the ball falls into the net and the Buckeyes ran on the court, their fans began to celebrate at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The funny part about that was when Stu had his hand up for about five seconds after the shot is over, like his life flashed before his eyes. Evan's teammates ran and jumped on his back and just let the emotions go. Buckeyes coach Thad Matta was fired up at the referees and told them the shot was good while the refs checked to see if the shot was good. Evan won national player of the year after a shot like, you have to agree with me. Since he came back from his back injury on January 6th, they have a 15-3 record and have become a major player in the tourney. How can you ignore a man who leads the Big Ten in points (19.5 ppg) and rebounds (9.4 rpg) and shoots 53% from the field.
How can the committee even think about expanding the field from 65 to 96. These type of moments would be meaningless to the game. Michigan had a chance to move to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, with a chance to get an automatic-bid to the NCAA tournament, but Evan wiped those dreams away. He will be the best player heading into the tournament next week. He's a great leader and he's a junior, that means plenty of experience. I wouldn't sleep on a team that has five seniors, five juniors, and three sophomores. This team will make a deep run no matter where they are seeded. As long as they have the great Evan Turner on the court, this team will be dangerous in the next few weeks, and I like their chances.
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