Mamadi Diakite Forced Overtime In Virginia-Purdue With A Thrilling Buzzer-Beater

On Saturday evening, the Virginia Cavaliers and Purdue Boilermakers squared off in the South Regional Final with a berth in the Final Four on the line. Forty minutes wasn’t enough to determine the winner and, while the entire game was full of memorable moments (including an utter explosion from Purdue guard Carsen Edwards), the final seconds of regulation were absolutely riveting.

With 5.9 seconds remaining, the Boilermakers committed a foul intentionally on Ty Jerome, choosing the mathematical advantage with a three-point lead. After Jerome converted the first free throw to slash the margin to two, the veteran guard missed the second, setting off a wild chain of events.

In the end, Kihei Clark found Mamadi Diakite with a perfectly timed pass and the big man converted the game-tying bucket before time expired. Simply put, the play had it all when it came to the loose ball, the very long tap-back, and the hustle play combined with awareness to even create the potential for the shot.

In many ways, this was the perfect play to keep what was already a wild game and, for Tony Bennett and the top-seeded Cavaliers, it provided new life and a chance in overtime after what was a dismal situation on paper.