McQuaid’s crazy buzzer-beater puts Michigan State up at the half

Michigan State’s Matt McQuaid sent the team into the locker room with a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the Second Round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

In a game where No. 3 Michigan State has been struggling to find the basket, Matt McQuaid made the unlikeliest of shots at the buzzer to put the Spartans up 25-22 over No. 11 Syracuse going into halftime.

For guard Matt McQuaid it was shoot, block, catch and toss for that beautiful shot at the buzzer going into halftime. After the team missed wide-open shots left and right, McQuaid managed to hit the most unlikely of shots at the buzzer to send the Spartans into the locker room on a high note. After Syracuse swatted his first attempt at a 3-pointer, the ball went straight up in the air. McQuaid caught it and jumped, tossing the ball while his body was slightly off-kilter but the ball found the net anyway as time expired.

Take a look at McQuaid’s explosive shot:

McQuaid’s shot was the bright spot in an otherwise ugly first half where both teams have struggled to get shots off. Michigan State was 5-for-19 from beyond the arc, but it’s important to note that there were several times when Michigan State had multiple opportunities to score but missed the net time and again. They have had 12 offensive rebounds to Syracuse’s one, which isn’t reflected at all in the score of this game.

Syracuse hasn’t been much better, going 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, but the Syracuse defense has really put the moves on Michigan State and held them to only 25 points in the first half.

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With only three points separating the two teams going into the second half of the game, this is exactly where Syracuse wants to be. If Michigan State is going to pull off a win, they need to buckle down and get the shots in at every opportunity, because Syracuse is right at their heels.