March Madness: Ranking the Top 10 games of 2019 NCAA Tournament
By Adam Childs
5. Auburn 78 – New Mexico State 77
Auburn’s run to the Final Four was almost stopped before it really even got started. The five-seeded Tigers were almost bitten by the dreaded twelve-seed upset in the first round against New Mexico State.
After being down briefly in the first half, the Tigers appeared to take control into the second half in what looked like an easy win. They even lead by eight with just over two minutes left to go in the game, but then it got crazy.
The Aggies would hit a layup with 50 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to five. then a free throw and it was four, and a three to cut it to one and all of a sudden Auburn was in danger of losing the game. After a few free throws made by both sides, the Aggies had the ball down two. A.J. Harris would drive the ball past the Tigers defense for a wide open layup to tie the game. Except he didn’t shoot the layup and passed it out for a three.
Terrell Brown caught the ball with a wide open three attempt and he missed it with one second left. The problem for Auburn was that they were whistled for a foul and Brown would get a chance to win the game from the line. Unfortunately for the Aggies, he missed the first and third free throws, but they would get another chance as Auburn knocked the ball out of bounds on the rebound attempt.
That would give the Aggies one more shot to knock off the high-powered Tigers. They got a good look at a three but it clanked off the rim and Auburn escaped. It was a crazy last minute that almost saw Auburn choke away their chance at advancing in the tournament. It turned into a wake-up call for the Tigers as they ended up blowing past the rest of their competition on their way to their first Final Four ever. The Aggies went home thinking about what could have been as they were two missed free throws away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the first round.