March Madness: 25 greatest buzzer-beaters in NCAA Tournament history
By Nick Villano
9. Drew Nicholas: No. 6 Maryland vs. No. 11 UNC Wilmington – 2003 Round of 64
North Carolina is a state that’s run by college basketball. Obviously, it all starts with the University of North Carolina and Duke. Then, there’s NC State, Wake Forest and Davidson. UNC Wilmington is somewhere in between these groups and the bottom tier of Division I North Carolina schools.
UNC Wilmington got a first-round draw against the defending champs in Maryland. Maryland was looking to keep their defense alive, and they did it with one of the most improbable shots in tournament history.
The shot itself is what gets it this high on the list. This is one of the lowest-value shots in the offensive half of the court. Nicholas threw, we don’t even want to call this a prayer. This was a shot out of desperation because there was nothing else to do at the time.
Maryland took this improbable shot and took it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. They ended up upsetting Xavier the next game, then lost by a slim margin to Michigan State. However, this shot was insane.
It’s been 17 years since Maryland used this and it seems more people talk about this shot than they do about the National Championship the year before. That’s the power of the buzzer-beater.