Were you excited when Jalen Suggs hit an overtime, buzzer-beating three sending Gonzaga to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game? Were you more excited than Adam Morrison? Probably not.
The Tournament began for UCLA in the First Four, and it came to an end with heartbreak in the Final Four. With 3.3 seconds left in overtime, Bruins guard Johnny Juzang tied the score at 90, seemingly sending the game to Double OT. But Gonzaga freshman Jalen Suggs had other plans, pushing the ball up the court, banking in a deep three-pointer to earn the Bulldogs a trip to the national championship game.
Don’t jump the call, stay composed, let the play-by-play announcer control the moment – the cardinal rules of a color analyst are often tossed out the window during a moment like this. And there was no better demonstration of it than during the Zags radio call with play-by-play voice Tom Hudson and analyst Adam Morrison.
Morrison helped put Gonzaga on the map 15 years ago when the Bulldogs lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16, a game that would be dubbed “the Adam Morrison Crying Game.” Gonzaga can’t reverse history, but 15 years later they enjoyed a surprise ending of their own to beat UCLA, and Morrison clearly felt some sense of payback.
