So was Gonzaga-UCLA 2021 better than Kentucky-Duke 1992?
Even before Jalen Suggs banked in his buzzer-beating shot from just inside mid-court that gave Gonzaga an epic 93-90 overtime Final Four win over UCLA on Saturday night, the comparisons began.
“Hesitant to even type this, but:” tweeted Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde at halftime, “this game reminds me a bit of Kentucky-Duke 1992. Underdog can go toe-to-toe with a big dog, and great shot-making contest unfolds. Let’s see if this can carry through another 20 minutes.”
Actually, it carried through the next 25 minutes, thanks to OT. Those 25 minutes were filled by big shot after big shot, big play after big play with both the underdog Bruins and undefeated Zags trading roundhouse punches all night long inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Most famous/iconic college basketball game since Duke-Kentucky?” tweeted Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.
“After Kentucky-Duke in 1992, I remember Bob Ryan walking into press room and saying, ‘we’re not worthy,’” tweeted Dana O’Neil of The Athletic. “Ditto no way words can do that game justice. Absolutely no way.”
And when Suggs, Gonzaga’s fabulous freshman, the only freshman starter in this Final Four, banked in his 40-footer, comparisons began to the famous Christian Laettner shot that beat Kentucky 104-103 in the East Region finals of the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia.
“Jalen Suggs just gave this generation its ‘Christian Laettner’ moment,” tweeted CBS’ Jon Rothstein
In fact, Kentucky fans quickly took to social media to say they hoped Suggs’ miracle shot would end Big Blue Nation’s pain of having to re-watch Laettner’s shot every March Madness.
“Let’s hope that shot finally puts the Laettner clip out of our misery,” tweeted Lynn Schrader.
“I was courtside of Laettner’s shot to decide Kentucky-Duke,” tweeted Ian O’Connor of the New York Post. “I put this game and that Suggs shot in the same category.”
I was also lucky enough to be there for Laettner’s shot and second that emotion.
So was Gonzaga-UCLA 2021 better than Kentucky-Duke 1992?
The games themselves were very similar. Both went to overtime. Both featured teams making a high percentage of their shots. In 1992, Duke shot 65.4 percent from the floor while Kentucky shot 56.9. Saturday, Gonzaga shot 58.7 percent while UCLA shot 57.6.
As for the stakes, Gonzaga-UCLA was for a trip to the NCAA championship game, while Kentucky-Duke was for a trip to the Final Four.
Unlike Duke in 1992, Gonzaga entered the game undefeated. If the Zags beat Baylor on Monday night, Mark Few’s team will become the first undefeated NCAA champion since Indiana went 32-0 in 1976.
Since Duke trailed Kentucky 103-102 at the time of Laettner’s shot, a miss would have knocked the Blue Devils out of the tournament and sent Rick Pitino’s Wildcats to the Final Four. If Suggs had missed, Saturday night’s game would have gone into a second overtime.
And, as we all know, Laettner was a perfect 10-of-10 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the foul line on March 28, 1992. He scored 31 points. Suggs was 6-of-12 from the floor and scored just 16 points on April 3, 2021. But Suggs may have made the defensive play of the night, blocking Cody Riley’s attempted dunk with the game tied at 77 with two minutes left.
One other similarity between the two games: Each featured a heroic performance in defeat. In 1992, UK’s Jamal Mashburn scored 28 points for the Wildcats. In 2021, UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, a former Wildcat, scored 29 points for the Bruins.
And there were some Saturday that pointed to Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beating three-pointer that gave Villanova the 2016 national championship, 77-74, over North Carolina.
Still, as for the greatest NCAA Tournament game of all time, I’d still give the edge to Kentucky-Duke in 1992. But the brilliance and drama of Gonzaga-UCLA 2021 puts it in the photo.
Move over Laettner.
This story was originally published April 4, 2021 at 7:17 AM.
