Everyone stunned by Villanova's buzzer-beater, except coach
The clock ran just after the ball left Kris Jenkins' hand at the end of the 2016 NCAA men's basketball championship, giving onlookers everywhere a second to take a deep breath in preparation for either a deep sigh or shrieks of happiness.
When the ball hit the back of the rim and clanked through the net, securing Jenkins and Villanova a 77-74 victory over North Carolinain the national championship Monday night, fans everywhere let out yells at what will go down as one of the most exiting finishes in sports history.
Everywhere, that is, except on Villanova's bench, where coach Jay Wright could barely crack a smile.
With 4.7 seconds left and the game tied after an exciting double-clutch three-pointer from UNC's Marcus Paige, Wright called a timeout. He had one play in mind, a play they'd worked on all season.
"I didn't have to say anything in the huddle," he said. "We have a name for it, that's what we're going to do. Just put everybody in their spots."
Wright said every coach designs plays for game-ending situations with less than four seconds, four to seven seconds, seven to 12 seconds.
They practice it. A lot.
When showtime comes, the coach puts the ball in his players' hands and hopes they can execute. He knows that with the senior point guard Ryan Arcidiacono running the play, odds are the Wildcats will get a good look.
Jenkins started the play inbounding the ball under the Villanova basket to Arcidiacono. Forward Daniel Ochefu set a pick at midcourt to free things up, then it was up to Arcidiacono to create. He underhand flipped a pass to Jenkins, who was open. The junior spotted himself up, and with North Carolina's Isaiah Hicks running at him, launched the shot.
Wright, apparently, knew the shot was going in.
"Bang," the coach said as he watched it fall, before calmly walking over to shake Carolina coach Roy Williams' hand as confetti flew.
The refs looked at the replay to make sure the shot got off in time. It did. The points went up on the scoreboard. Celebration on. Or, as Jenkins put it, "One, two step, shoot 'em up, sleep in the streets."