March Madness: Top game-winning buzzer-beaters in Round of 64 history

5. 2008 – #12 Western Kentucky’s Ty Rogers over #5 Drake

Few games during the 2008 NCAA Tournament were as absurd as this mid-major’s dream, which saw the Missouri Valley champions and nationally-ranked Drake Bulldogs, led by a quadruplet of double-digit scorers, take on the Sun Belt champs in Western Kentucky.

Much of Drake’s success during the 2007-08 campaign was reminiscent of the 2020-21 squad, with the Bulldogs embarking on a stellar start to the season, racking up a 16-1 record – which included wins over Iowa and Iowa State – before finally breaking through in the top 25.  Despite some last-season slipups, a marquee victory over eighth-ranked Butler in February as a part of ESPN’s BracketBuster series – along with claiming the MVC title – was enough to put Drake among the nation’s best heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Western Kentucky endured a similar season but flipped – an early 10-5 start appeared troublesome, but single-digit losses to a pair of nationally-ranked foes in Gonzaga and Tennessee, as well as narrow defeats to a few 20-win teams like South Alabama and Southern Illinois, helped prepare the Hilltoppers to nearly run the table in the Sun Belt.  After an early January loss to South Alabama, Western Kentucky coasted to claim the conference title, winning 17 of their next 18 games and setting up an eventual mid-major date with Drake.

Both teams entered the NCAA Tournament ranking in the top 100 in points per game, 2P%, and 3P%, providing an offensive backdrop to the opening round duel that would ultimately produce one of the most competitive tilts of 2008.  The Bulldogs featured four double-digit scorers, with Josh Young pouring in 15.9 points, whereas the Hilltoppers sported future NBA player Courtney Lee, one of the deadliest scorers in the nation with a 20.4 points per game mark.

The end result was a game that saw both teams set NCAA Tournament history, with both the Bulldogs and Hilltoppers combining to make 30 three-pointers on 70 attempted long-range bombs.  Meanwhile, neither Lee nor Young was the stars for their respective teams – instead, Jonathan Cox led Drake behind a monster 29-point, 16-rebound double-double, whereas Tyrone Brazelton led all scorers with 33 points, serving as the catalyst behind a dominant run that saw Western Kentucky build a 16-point lead with 12 minutes left in regulation.

A frantic 33-18 run in the final nine minutes – largely spurred by Cox and Young – propelled Drake back into the tilt, with the dramatics capped off by a game-tying three-pointer from Cox with 30 seconds left that would send the game to overtime.

It would appear as if the Bulldogs had secured the win thanks to a pair of free-throws from Cox with 5.7 seconds remaining in overtime that would put Drake up, 99-98 – but Western Kentucky’s Ty Rogers, who had scored just eight points leading up to the final seconds and had reached double-digits just seven times throughout the season, denied Drake’s chance of extending its historic season courtesy of a 26-foot jumper.

Rogers’ game-winning shot would only serve as the catalyst for Western Kentucky’s Cinderella run through the tournament, which saw the Hilltoppers take down a fellow Cinderella in San Diego in the Round of 32 – before falling by 10 to eventual Final Four squad UCLA in the Sweet 16.  Despite losing head coach Darrin Horn to South Carolina at the season’s end, the Hilltoppers would nearly replicate their success again the following season, taking down Illinois in the first round as, yet again, a 12th-seed.