Murray State University
Murray State coach Billy Kennedy, which had scribbled something out with 4.2 seconds left in the tight first-round game with Vanderbilt, had a far more colorful strategy to describe what transpired on the buzzer.
“That was a blessing,” Murray State coach Billy Kennedy said. “It’s not a shot we’ve run or one we’ve worked on.
“It’s a miracle.”
The 6-foot-4 senior from New Orleans caught a pass from Isacc Miles, took one dribble, and fired in the horn to sink No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt 66-65.
Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy buried his head in his jersey and collapsed for the floor.
Murray State guard B.J. Jenkins did a flying fist pump.
“I thought I was going to get smothered,” Thomas mused. “I was trying to find a hole to breathe.”
After hitting the big shot, he passed for the credit. Miles was the guy that gave up the ball. Kennedy was the one that drew up a play the team hadn’t run before that ended up working.
“If I wouldn’t have made it, one of them would have made it,” Thomas said of his teammates.
The Racers have banded together to win 31 games and their first NCAA tournament game since 1988 — when Thomas was two years old.
They had won the Ohio Valley Conference by two games, dealt with the death of the mother of guard Picasso Simmons the day before leaving for California, and then took down an SEC team in Vanderbilt that had finished second to Kentucky.
“It goes down the drain with one kid making the shot,” Ogilvy said in an otherwise silent locker room.
It’s the No. 12-seeded Racers that will continue dancing after the shot heard from Murray to Northern California dropped through.
“It was big-time,” Thomas said. “It’s tournament time.”
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[...] Third choice Danero Thomas became the favourite instead. Thomas strike a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State dumbfounded No. 4 seed Vanderbilt 66-65 upon Thursday in an NCAA contest opener in the West Regi… Murray State ยป Murray State University, Murray St, Vanderbilt [...]