The weekend in college basketball was defined by heart-stopping finishes. Florida’s Chris Chiozza stole the ball and the game from Missouri in one sequence in the final seconds. LSU’s Tremont Waters hit a ridiculous buzzer-beater to shock Texas A&M. No. 1 Michigan State lost to Ohio State, and No. 2 Duke lost to NC State.
Even still, the weekend saved its best finish for last.
Late Sunday night, while much of the country was sleeping, Stanford stunned USC on a half-court buzzer-beater from freshman point guard Daejon Davis. The shot came with the Cardinal down two after Jordan McLaughlin hit a tough layup with 1.7 seconds left.
NO. WAY.@StanfordMBB just finished an EPIC 15-point comeback in unbelievable fashion.#Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/hSVffvNsl8
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 8, 2018
What a finish. Here are six things we loved about Davis’ half-court buzzer-beater.
1. The celebration by Dorian Pickens
What was better?
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 8, 2018
The shot or @DorianPickens11's reaction? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/uGnXk1Za4d
Celebrate all of your friends accomplishments as enthusiastically as Pickens celebrated this buzzer-beater from Davis.
2. ESPN had the wrong score
Close, @espn. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/LQVhEz4Ktm
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) January 8, 2018
Hell hath no fury like a salty team Twitter account.
3. It capped a 15-point comeback
Stanford trailed USC, 68-53, with 10 minutes left on Sunday.
The Trojans looked like they were finally living up to their preseason hype. The starting front court of Chimezie Metu and Bennie Boatwright were balling. McLaughlin was orchestrating the offense as a scorer and distributor. Sophomore big man Nick Rakocevic was providing a big boost off the bench.
Unfortunately for USC, Reid Travis had other ideas. Stanford’s star big man finished with a career-high 29 points and paced the offense all night to put Davis in position to be the hero.
4. Davis didn’t realize he won the game
“I knew we were down by two but I didn’t realize we had won the game,” Davis said. “To be honest I didn’t know what was happening until I saw my teammates coming at me.”
USC wasn’t the only one surprised!
5. Davis was still more concerned about his turnovers
Once more, from the AP recap
Davis also had six assists but five turnovers and said that was unacceptable. “I know the shot doesn’t really make up for the turnovers,” he said.
You know that quote is going to make head coach Jerod Haase swell with pride.
6. That reverse angle though
Good thing I told @DaejonDavis to practice that shot!
— Jerod Haase (@CoachJerodHaase) January 8, 2018
Proud of how we battled tonight. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/XFWh78LYTi
College basketball remains the greatest.