SAN DIEGO – By the time the basketball rolled off the tips of his right hand, St. John’s guard Dylan Darling was moving so fast toward the basket that he didn’t even see if the ball went in the hoop.
But he heard the noise that followed: The final buzzer sounded. The crowd roared.
And that’s how he knew. He had just won the game for St. John’s on a banked-in layup as time expired to beat No. 4 seed Kansas Sunday in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament 67-65.
“I didn’t actually watch it go through the net,” Darling told USA TODAY Sports in the hallway outside the St. John’s locker room after the game. “But I heard everybody’s reaction.”
He raised his arms in triumph right afterward. And then he got tackled by his teammates on the baseline as the Red Storm celebrated their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. No. 5 seed St. John’s next will play No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in Washington, D.C.
But it’ll be hard to top this in terms of sheer panedemonium at the end.
Here’s how it went down, according the players and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, who is taking his fourth team the regional round in the tournament.
∎ Darling, a transfer from Idaho State, hadn’t made a shot all game before the buzzer-beater. He missed on his four previous attempts - all from 3-point range.
∎ The ball went in even though the left handed Darling shot and dribbled the ball with his right.
∎ Darling even asked his coach, Rick Pitino, to let him make that play at the end before he did it.
“This is the amazing thing, and the funniest thing I've ever been involved with,” Pitino said.
The final sequence for St. John’s and coach Rick Pitino
St. John’s never trailed and led by as much as 14 points in the second half before Kansas surged at the end to tie the game at 65-65 on two free throws from freshman guard Darryn Peterson with 13 seconds remaining.
St. John’s got the ball back then with a chance to win. But Kansas had four fouls to give before it would force the Red Storm to the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking with no timeouts left, leading Darling to give some feedback to St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.
What should his team do on the final play?
Pitino listened with amusement to the player he calls “Bells” because he has “balls the size of church bells.”
“We're going to run a play, but they've got fouls to give,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said afterward. “And Bells come up to me and says, ‘Run power,’ which is a high, back-screen pick-and-roll. So I walk away and I said, `Wait a second. He hasn't scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself.’ I'm thinking as I'm walking, but he's Bells. And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand. So real proud of him because to want the ball when you haven't made a shot is unbelievable.”
'He hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night'
After the Jayhawks committed four fouls to disrupt the Red Storm’s final possession, St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins inbounded the ball to Darling with 3.9 seconds left. He took the pass in the backcourt and went straight for the hoop, dribbling three times with his right hand away from his Kansas defender, Elmarcko Jackson.
“He got downhill, and I was kind of trailing the play just in case he missed the layup,” Hopkins told USA TODAY Sports after he inbounded the ball to Darling. “I was gonna be there for the rebound, hopefully, and try to put a tip back in.”
He didn’t need to.
“As soon as Bells said to me to run power, I knew he could get to the rim because he hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night,” Pitino said. “So I knew he was going to do it.”
The St. John’s locker room was loud afterward
Hopkins and St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor each scored 18 points for St. John’s. Ejiofor was near the top of the 3-point arc ready to set a screen when Darling fielded the inbounds pass. He didn’t have to do much but watch.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God! Big Bell strikes again,’” Ejiofor told USA TODAY Sports afterward. “That’s what he’s done all season.”
Darling didn’t think there was time for anything else. He could have passed the ball to the corners if necessary, or tossed it to Ejiofor if he didn’t see an opening. There still wasn’t much time.
“I saw the lane, and I just went for it,” Darling said.
It might be the last 'cruel' play for Kansas coach Bill Sefl
It might even send Kansas coach Bill Self into retirement. The Hall of Fame Jayhawks coach said afterward he hadn’t made up his mind about that after experiencing recent health issues. He’s won two national championships, just like Pitino. This loss stings.
“One of the things that makes it so great is that it can be great,” Self said. “But it can also be cruel.”
By contrast, Pitino said he was “jubilant.”
“We've taken another step now,” said Pitino, 73. “So it's just awesome. Proud of our guys, and now it's just starting. The fun is just starting.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rick Pitino reveals St. John's buzzer-beater play against Kansas