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TAMPA, Fla. -- It has been a tradition in his home since he was a kid. Ty Rogers' mother always taped those magical NCAA tournament moments, providing the Western Kentucky guard special times to himself when he could dream it might one day be him.
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| Ty Rogers causes a mob to form, but he's been prepping for this moment his whole life. (AP) |
Now he has his own.
Who says dreams don't come true?
Only moments after missing a free throw in overtime, Rogers buried a 3-point shot at the buzzer from near center court to give the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers a dramatic 101-99 overtime victory over fifth-seeded Drake on Friday in a first-round West Region game.
After Drake, which had rallied from 16 down in the second half, took a 99-98 lead on two free throws by Jonathan Cox, Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn called timeout with 5.7 seconds left, the Hilltoppers' tourney hopes hanging in the balance.
Horn's message to his team was get the ball into the hands of point guard Tyrone Brazelton and let him get to the rim. Smart strategy considering Brazelton had torched Drake for 33 points.
But as they broke the huddle, Rogers reminded Brazelton of something.
"Don't be afraid to kick it," Rogers said.
Brazelton dribbled to the right side of the court and looked for an opening, but two Drake defenders cut him off, so he calmly flipped it back to Rogers who buried the 3 as the horn sounded.
"It felt good when it left my hands," Rogers said.
Not nearly as good as it did when it dropped through the nets, advancing Western Kentucky to the second round. Not too bad for a guy who started the season on the bench.
Rogers, a senior, made it into the starting lineup in the eighth game and has been a valuable player in the Hilltoppers' 28-5 season. On this day, he had just eight points before nailing the shot just shy of Clearwater.
Move over, Bryce Drew. Move over, Christian Laettner. Move over, Tyus Edney. Move over all of you members of the Magic Moment club. You have a new entry.
"That's why this is the greatest show on Earth," Horn said.
In a tournament mostly devoid of these types of games and situations, this type of drama, this one had it all.
It had a favorite in Drake fall down by 16 with just less than 12 minutes left that rallied to tie it in regulation and lead for most of overtime. The Bulldogs did it with a fierce press and some timely 3-point shooting.
They sure do shoot a lot of them. The Bulldogs took 42 shots behind the line, making 16. But in their rally they made some big ones, helping overcome a so-so game for point guard Adam Emmenecker, the Missouri Valley Player of the Year who went 0-for-10 from the field.
Not to be outdone, Western Kentucky wasn't about to go down without bombing its own 3s. They made 14 of 28, making the 30 3-point shots a record for an NCAA tournament game.
"They're a great 3-point shooting team, but nobody should overlook how well we shoot the 3-ball," Brazelton said. "We might be a little streaky, but we can definitely put it in the basket from the 3-point line."
Brazelton, a senior guard from Chicago via junior college, did it better than anybody. Rogers will get a ton of credit, and a ton of highlight-show time, but none of it would have been possible without Brazelton. He scored a game-high 33 points and dished out five assists, while doing a great job defending Emmenecker.
It was that battle of point guards that would be the difference in the game. Brazelton made six of 10 from behind the 3-point line.
"I thrive off that (playing a hyped point guard)," Brazelton said. "Point guards are measured by winning games."
Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Brazelton learned the game the city way -- tough, physical and relentless. Coming out of high school, he didn't have the grades, so he ended up at Missouri State-West Plains before coming to WKU.
When he tells his friends back in Chicago where he's playing, some of them give him the business. Bowling Green, Ky., isn't exactly Lexington. Western isn't the University of Kentucky. The Hilltoppers wear red; everybody knows that Kentucky, and its rich tradition, wears blue.
"A lot of people ask me if it's a D-2 school and I kind of get upset," Brazelton said. "After this game, I'm sure they'll know."
One of the great things about sports is how a team can bring together two kids from such different backgrounds, like with Brazelton and Rogers. One is an all city player, while the other is country, an aw-shucks way about him.
"We have a McDonalds now," Rogers said.
Now Eddyville also has a hero. The kid who dreamed it would one day be him making the big shot now has one of those magic moments to call his own.
With his parents in attendance here in Tampa, I asked him if he had the DVR set.
"I sure hope so," he said. "Somebody has to have it"
Don't worry, Ty. You'll be seeing that shot plenty. You, of all people, should know how we all eat up those shining moments.