Down by two points in a second-round NCAA Tournament game, and with only six seconds remaining, the UT Dallas Comets’ basketball team seemed to have nothing going right leading into its final play.
“When you watch the film, it was like chaos,” said Comets junior Nolan Harvey.
What happened next is a story the UTD athletic department will be talking about for years.
“It was what you call pandemonium,” head coach Terry Butterfield said, while shaking his head.
Harvey, who is originally from Friendswood, took a handoff beyond the 3-point line and with two seconds left in the game fired up a prayerful heave from beyond the arc.
“It looked like it took 30 minutes for the ball to get to the rim,” said Butterfield.
“It felt really good,” said Harvey. “I thought it was in, but I honestly couldn’t believe it until it actually went it, and I still couldn’t believe it about six hours later.”
Not only did Harvey’s high-arcing shot go in, it touched nothing but the bottom of the net.
“I just stood there dumbfounded,” Butterfield remembered.
The UT Dallas gym erupted in a complete and total frenzy, with the student body rushing the floor and piling on Harvey who was already being mobbed by his teammates.
“There was probably a five second period where I thought I was going to die,” Harvey said, smiling. “But then I came to terms with it and thought, well, that’s a pretty good way to go out.”
Because of Harvey’s last-second heroics, the Comets are still very much alive and headed to the NCAA Division-III Sweet 16 for only the third time in school history.
“Perhaps we’re a team of destiny,” Butterfield said. “It’s not often you get to hit a buzzer-beater like that in such a huge situation, so maybe there’s just really good karma surrounding our basketball team right now.”
UT Dallas will try to continue the magic this week. They'll next face Wisconsin-Whitewater Friday with a chance to advance to the Elite Eight.
