florida buzzer beater

Florida botched a 12-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation, allowing Zak Showalter to force overtime on a wild, one-legged 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left.

The Gators trailed by five points in overtime, but after rallying back to tie, two Nigel Hayes free throws with four seconds left gave Wisconsin an 83-81 lead.

So Chris Chiozza had to go the length of the floor to tie or win the game, and here’s what he did:

ONIONS. THIS IS MARCH. WHERE’S GUS JOHNSON WHEN YOU NEED HIM

Our first buzzer-beater of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Here’s another look:

Although this next play will get overshadowed by Chiozza’s buzzer-beater, Florida would not be in position to win without Canyon Barry’s chasedown block 30 seconds earlier.

Barry had just hit two free throws to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 81-79, but then lost Badgers forward Khalil Iverson over the top when the Gators set up their press. Iverson appeared to have an easy layup to make it a two-possession game, but Barry tracked him down:

So, yeah. Friday night wound up being pretty fun after all.

[TBS]

About Jesse Kramer

Jesse is a writer and editor for The Comeback. He has also worked for SI.com and runs The Catch and Shoot, a college basketball website based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow Jesse on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer.