March Madness: 10 best moments from the 2019 NCAA Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12, Kyle Guy #5, and Ty Jerome #11 of the Virginia Cavaliers huddle together during overtime against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

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JACKSONVILLE, FL – MARCH 23: Tremont Waters #3 of the LSU Tigers dribbles the ball during the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament against the Maryland Terrapins at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 23, 2019, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

7. Tremont Waters scores the first buzzer-beater for LSU

After surviving upset bids in the first round, LSU and Maryland took the floor in Jacksonville on March 23 with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. LSU built a huge lead early, but the Terrapins rallied in the second half, making the game far more interesting than initially anticipated.

The game would come down to a wild final minute, with Maryland tying the game in the final seconds, leaving LSU with the basketball with just a few ticks left on the clock. Needing a bucket to avoid overtime, the Tigers put the ball in the hands of Tremont Waters, their best player all season long.

Waters drove to the rack and laid the ball in with 1.6 seconds to go, giving the Tigers the lead and leaving almost no time for Maryland to tie it up. A last-ditch heave from the Terrapins fell short, sending Maryland home with broken hearts and LSU onto Washington for the Sweet 16.

TREMONT WATERS. FOR THE WIN.

LSU IS HEADED TO THE SWEET 16. pic.twitter.com/1mat4D1khr
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 23, 2019

The Tigers ran into a buzzsaw in the East Regional semifinals, however, as they were thoroughly outplayed by Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Even though the season ended poorly for LSU, this was one of the rare buzzer beaters in this tournament, and that will go down in the history books for years to come.

LSU fans will also be left wondering how far they could have gone if they had head coach Will Wade available for the NCAA Tournament. Wade was suspended late in the year after getting caught up in the FBI’s recruiting probe and wasn’t reinstated in time for the tournament.

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