St. John's is off to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament after registering a 67-65 last-second triumph over Kansas. It didn't look like St. John's would need a last-second layup from Dylan Darling to win the game when they were leading by a 57-45 margin with less than 8 minutes to play, but the Jayhawks mounted a ferocious charge.
Kansas tied the score when Darryn Peterson made two free throws with 13.1 seconds remaining. The Jayhawks had multiple fouls to give before they would be in a penalty situation, so Kansas head coach Bill Self had his players commit four fouls as the clock wound down to 3.9 seconds.
At that point, Darling got the ball near the top of the key and drove to the hoop and made a layup with his right hand as time expired. That gave St. John's the victory — and it was Darling's only points in the game.
Head coach Rick Pitino agreed to let Darling have the last shot, but then realized he was giving a player who had not scored the opportunity to take the final shot.
“Here's the amazing thing and the funniest thing I've ever been around,” Pitino explained (via SNY). “Bells (Darling) comes up to me and says run power. That's a high, back-screen pick and roll. … ‘Wait a second, he hasn't scored a bucket and he wants to run a play for himself.' … And not only did he do it, he made it with his right hand. I'm so proud of him. To want the ball when you haven't made a shot is unbelievable.”
The fifth-seeded Red Storm will meet top-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16.
