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The NCAA Tournament has been responsible for a ton of dramatic moments over the decades, and that includes the dozens of games that have been decided by a buzzer-beater. A good chunk of those shots have been drilled with a trip to the national championship game or a title on the line, and with the end of March Madness on the horizon, there’s no better time to revisit those iconic buckets.
Here’s every single instance where a Final Four game has been decided by a buzzer-beater
Anyone who played basketball growing up fantasized about getting the chance to sink a game-winning buzzer-beater, but most people are never lucky enough to experience the rush that comes with drilling one in an actual game.
According to Sports Reference, there are currently 137 guys who have been able to check that box at some point during the NCAA Tournament since the first one was recorded in 1944. However, the people who compiled that list were a bit liberal with a definition that recognizes any shot that went through the rim with two or fewer seconds remaining.
There have been 48 instances where the clock read zero by the time a game-winner dropped, and these are the five that transpired in one of the three games that comprise the Final Four.
Lamont Butler gives San Diego State the 72-71 win over FAU in 2023
The 2023 NCAA Tournament was a bracket-busting bonanza, as UConn was able to call itself the highest-ranked team in the Final Four as a four-seed. The Huskies faced off against fifth-seeded Miami, while the other side of the bracket saw #5 San Diego State going toe-to-toe with Florida Atlantic.
The game started with back-and-forth action before FAU began to pull away in the first half, and the Owls were up as much as 12 points midway through the second before the Aztecs started to crawl their way back into the contest.
FAU had the chance to extend its 71-70 lead with less than 20 seconds to go, but SDSU’s defense stepped up to keep the deficit at one and get the ball back with around 10 seconds to score. They could have called a timeout, but Brian Dutcher decided to let his guys play before Lamont Butler took matters into his own hands and drained a 17-foot jumper as the clock expired.
Jalen Suggs gives Gonzaga the 93-90 win over UCLA in 2021
The 2021 NCAA Tournament was a bit wonky when it came to seeding thanks to the lingering effects of the pandemic, so I’m hesitant to refer to UCLA as a Cinderella despite the fact that the Bruins made it to the Final Four as an 11-seed.
However, they were firmly the underdog against a top-seeded Gonzaga squad that headed into their semifinal showdown with a spotless 30-0 record. They managed to give the Bulldogs a run for their money in a game that featured a flurry of lead changes and swings in momentum, and it seemed like there was a very good chance it was going to go to overtime when UCLA tied things up at 90 with 3.3 seconds to go.
However, Jalen Suggs had other plans, as he banked in a 37-foot heave for the 93-90 victory.
Kris Jenkins gives Villanova the 77-74 win over UNC in 2016
The national championship game has been decided by a buzzer-beater a grand total of two times since the NCAA Tournament was introduced in 1939, and it’s been a decade since the second one.
The title game in 2016 featured top-seeded North Carolina facing off against a Villanova squad that had earned a two seed, and both of those teams had trouble amassing a sizeable lead at any point during the contest.
The Tar Heels were up by five heading into the locker room and extended the margin to seven right after the second half commenced, but the Wildcats erased the deficit and jumped out to a seven-point lead of their own before their opponent returned the favor.
They were tied at 74 points apiece when Villanova got the chance to take the lead with 4.7 seconds to go, and it looked like Ryan Arcidiacono was going to try to play the role of the hero.
He managed to draw a couple of UNC defenders who failed to realize Kris Jenkins was loitering near the logo before it was too late, as he pulled off a flawless catch-and-shoot to knock down the three-pointer that clinched the title for Villanova.
Jerome Whitehead gives Marquette the 51-49 win over Charlotte in 1977
Jenkins snapped a nearly 40-year drought for buzzer-beaters in the Final Four, as you have to go all the way back to 1977 and the age of standard definition television for what had been the most recent one.
It came when Marquette faced off against Charlotte for the right to play for a national championship in 1977 in what ended up being a very low-scoring affair that saw the two sides knotted at 49 points with three seconds to go.
The Golden Eagles had the chance to take the lead, but that was easier said than done when you consider they were inbounding the ball from underneath Charlotte’s basket. Butch Lee heaved up a full-court prayer that was tipped by one of the 49ers before it was snagged by Jerome Whitehead, who quickly pivoted, dribbled, and put in the lay-up that beat the clock.
Vic Rouse gives Loyola-Chicago the 60-58 victory over Cincinnati in 1963
As I mentioned above, there are only two people who clinched a national championship with a buzzer beater, and only one of those dramatic moments came in overtime.
This one transpired all the way back in 1963, as Loyola-Chicago and Cincinnati treated fans to some free basketball after they ended up tied at 54 at the end of regulation in the title game that year.
It was 58-58 when the Ramblers had the chance to seal the deal, and head coach George Ireland designed a play to get the ball into the hands of Jerry Harkness. However, his attempt to drive to the basket was stymied by a Bearcats defender, and it looked like he was going to shoot before he dished the ball off to Les Hunter with the clock approaching zero.
Hunter fired up a 10-foot jumper that clanged off the rim before falling into the hands of Vic Rouse, who turned the rebound into a lay-up that fell as time expired to give his squad their first (and, to date, only) national championship.