6. Christian Laettner: No. 1 UConn vs. No. 3 Duke – 1990 Elite Eight
This is just the second buzzer-beater on this list that sent a team to the Final Four. And yes, this isn’t the last time you’re going to see Christian Laettner on this list, but let’s focus on the task at hand. Looking back at some of the newspaper articles from 1990, there was trouble explaining just what happened. Laettner sent UConn home in unprecedented fashion.
The play itself was epic. What’s even more insane is this wasn’t the play Mike Krzyzewski drew up. However, he called an audible at the last possible moment, yelling at Brian Davis to get the ball to Laettner, who was left open after he passed the ball in. Davis threw it right into Laettner’s hands, he ran towards the paint, double-clutched in the air, and threw it up at the perfect time.
So many things could have stopped this moment from ever happening. According to the Sun-Sentinel at the time, Davis was only playing because of a hamstring injury to senior Robert Brickey. Like we said before, the play was supposed to go to two different players, but everyone who needed to hear the change by Coach K heard it.
The play might have never even had a chance if a steal attempt by UConn didn’t go out of bounds just seconds prior. It was a situation where everything fell into place.
Laettner never made much of a career in the NBA. However, he’s a name everyone knows. That’s specifically because of buzzer beaters, and his legend started here on the court in East Rutherford, New Jersey.