Late blunder costs Commodores
SALT LAKE CITY — For the Northwestern men’s basketball team, the party goes on. At Vanderbilt, there is only one question. What was he thinking? The Wildcats earned their first NCAA tournament victory in program history Thursday afternoon, winning 68-66 after Vanderbilt guard Matthew Fisher-Davis inexplicably grabbed Bryant McIntosh on purpose, sending McIntosh to the freethrow line for the go-ahead points with 15 seconds left.
After the game, Fisher-Davis called it a dumb foul and explained he misunderstood coaching instructions, believing he was being told to make contact when it was actually being pointed out that Fisher-Davis was supposed to guard McIntosh. Nor did he realize his team had a one-point lead.
“I actually thought we were down one,” Fisher-Davis said.
And though Fisher-Davis scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help West Region No. 9 seed Vanderbilt (19-16) rally from 15 points down, his mistake was the main takeaway from this game. It may not be as monumental as Chris Webber calling a timeout that Michigan didn’t have or Georgetown’s Fred Brown throwing the pass to James Worthy of North Carolina in NCAA tournament finals, but it certainly isn’t a highlight for the “One Shining Moment” video, either.
“An honest mistake,” Northwestern coach Chris
Collins said. “You feel bad for players. He was tremendous today. Certainly, I was surprised.”
The sequence was set up after Riley LaChance made a layup with 18 seconds remaining to put the Commodores up by one. But seconds after the in-bounds pass, Fisher-Davis reached out and grabbed McIntosh around the waist while the Northwestern guard was dribbling up the backcourt. That put eighth-seeded Northwestern in the double bonus, and McIntosh went to the line and calmly swished the free throws with 15 seconds left for a 67-66 lead.
“When he grabbed me, I had thought we were down one, and I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake,” McIntosh said. “I had to put my mind on making the free throws at the end.”
LaChance missed a 3-point attempt on the next possession, and the Wildcats sank (24-11) another free throw for the final margin. Fisher-Davis heaved a desperation shot at the buzzer, and after it missed he dropped his head and reached down to his shoes in despair before heading to the sideline, where teammates hugged him.
While the Wildcats doused Collins with water to celebrate, there were red eyes in the Vanderbilt locker room. But Fisher-Davis’ teammates had his back.
“He’s the type of person (who’s going to) feel some blame,” forward Luke Kornet said. “But in the second half, we have no chance if he doesn’t make the shots that he made. We’re with him no matter what.”
First-year Commodores coach Bryce Drew — who enjoyed a much different March Madness moment decades ago when he made a game-winning shot for Valparaiso — said he and his star guard would talk more in the near future. His message in the aftermath was simple: “From day one, we teach our guys that we’re a team and one play at the end … doesn’t win or lose the game.”
Fisher-Davis, a junior who led the SEC in 3-point shooting last season, tried to keep it in perspective.
“We all love each other like brothers,” he said. “They know I didn’t do that on purpose, obviously. We had a great season. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
McIntosh said he, like most players, always has dreamed about scoring the winning points during an NCAA tournament game, though not quite that way.
“You don’t imagine yourself down one and being fouled,” said the junior, who led the Wildcats with 25 points. “You envision yourself hitting the game-winner. But to be able to do that at the free-throw line was relaxing.”