I’ll preface this by saying it would be hard for me to find a matchup of two college basketball teams that I like less than last Sunday’s Duke/UConn Elite Eight game. To all the fans and graduates of those two schools, it’s not personal. But when I watch them play, I take solace in knowing one of them will lose.
On Sunday, I thought I knew who that was going to be, at least when I turned the game off at halftime to go run errands. Duke was up 15 in a game that seemed not nearly that close. And even though I got some push messages when I was sitting in a Starbucks about how the Huskies had cut the lead in half, it seemed inconceivable that the number one team in the country would squander what felt like an insurmountable advantage to book a spot in the Final Four.
Of course, that is exactly what happened, and it happened in the most dramatic way possible. With 10 seconds left and a two-point lead and the ball, Duke simply needed to inbound the ball and eventually draw a foul. Duke got the first part right, getting the ball in play. But in one of the most regrettable plays in college basketball history, freshman Cayden Boozer tried to make an unnecessary pass over the outstretched arms of two UConn defenders. That pass was deflected, leading to UConn having the ball with around three seconds left, where the ball eventually ended up in the hands of Huskies freshman Braylon Mullins who sank a three-pointer from near half court to effectively win the game by one. There were endless ways that Duke could have won the game on that last possession, and basically one way they would lose. And go figure, they found it.
As much as I like watching either of these teams lose, it’s basically impossible to a) not feel bad for Cayden Boozer, who has publicly apologized to his twin brother Cameron, a star freshman for Duke who will certainly be playing in the NBA next season. And b) not have some sense of excitement for UConn and, in particular, Braylon Mullins. Hating on Mullins after that shot is like auditioning for the role of Grinch. We should accept that this was a singular moment, one that will remain a significant coda in the story arc of NCAA Tournament history, much like Chrisian Leitner’s turn around shot and Bryce Drew’s last second jumper for Valparaiso.
That said, we know what it means to be Braylon Mullins. Regardless of the rest of his basketball career, he has his one shining moment in perpetuity. But what about the other side, how does this moment live on for Cayden Boozer, who should play after college but not at the heights of his brother? What’s the toll of knowing your mistake cost your team a chance at the brass ring? And I know, the game is more than one play, it’s a team sport, and on and on. This isn’t about shaming an athlete. It’s just the reality of when close games hinge on singular moments, where the tolerance for error is not just small. It’s zero. When that happens, on the opposite side of Mullins’ joy is a whole lot of pain and regret.
If you’re a fan of sports docs, it’s worth watching the 30 for 30 about Phi Slamma Jamma, the nickname for the University of Houston’s high flying basketball team of the 80’s. They lost the title to NC State in 1983 on what amounts to a missed assignment on defense. And even though some of these Houston guys went on to Hall of Fame NBA careers, you can still see the pain when they watch that last play some decades later. That is what it’s like to make a mistake at the worst moment. That’s Scott Norwood wide right, Bill Buckner in 86, and Lindsey Jacobellis in the Winter Olympics. To us it’s a moment in time. For these folks, the replay never ends.
Hopefully Cayden Boozer moves past this relatively quickly. Maybe he’ll find redemption in a championship season next year, as much as that pains me. And hopefully his career, much less his life, won’t be defined at all by this one play. But that’s the risk you take when the lights get brightest. Not that you might win, but that you personally might lose. Even when you’re up 15 at half.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler.
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