March Madness: 25 greatest buzzer-beaters in NCAA Tournament history
By Nick Villano
13. Jordan Poole: No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Houston – 2018 Round of 32
Not going to lie, the reaction to making this shot by Jordan Poole might have helped the ranking a little bit. After hitting the shot, Poole just ran full speed from one side of the court to the other, avoid the pile-up from his teammates. Michigan found themselves down two after Houston missed two free throw opportunities in the closing seconds. A timeout with three seconds left led to a long throw-in. A quick pass to Poole led to a shot over a hand with a split for good measure.
Poole seemed like an extremely unlikely hero. He only played 11 minutes that night and had a whopping five points. He had as many fouls as he had rebounds and assists, but none of it matters now. Sometimes it takes the unlikeliest heroes to make a story believable.
What makes this even better is the run the Wolverines went on after this game. This sent the Wolverines to the Sweet 16. They went all the way to the NCAA Championship Game, where they lost to the Villanova Wildcats. On the way, they got very lucky. They faced 7-seed Texas A&M in the Sweet 16, 9-seed Florida State in the Elite Eight and 11-seed Loyola-Chicago in the Final Four. Either way, all the record books will say is Michigan made it to the championship game.
This all came thanks to Poole’s improbably shot. These buzzer-beaters are so much better when it’s all or nothing. It’s one thing to put up a prayer when you’re tied and overtime is a guarantee if you miss. It’s completely different when that prayer either ends with a win or a loss and the season being over.