NCAA Tournament Teams Keep Running Out of Time

Both Florida Atlantic and Oregon could not capitalize on slow-developing final possessions.

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The phrase "buzzer beater" means something different to everyone and there's no reason to argue about semantics when there's the NCAA Tournament's non-stop fun to enjoy. Perhaps Colorado's KJ Simpson rattling in a baseline jumper a la Kawhi Leonard to knock out Florida qualifies. His shot was released with 4.8 seconds remaining on the clock and took its sweet time finding the net. The point stands: last-second heroics have been in short supply this year. Not to say the madness has been anything other than thrilling, but there's something about human nature that makes us pine for a final horn providing the soundtrack to victory.

One reason for the lack of buzzer-beating shots has been a somewhat confusing trend of teams simply waiting too long to get any action going toward the basket when the opportunity to end things manifests.

In the first round, No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic, knotted up at 58-58 with Northwestern, took possession of the ball with nine seconds remaining in regulation. Star guard Johnell Davis was in no rush dribbling up the court and was forced to take an extremely deep three-point attempt that never threatened the rim.

Late Saturday night, No. 11 seed Oregon was tied 62-62 with Creighton and had 13 seconds to win the game. Jermaine Couisnard, who scored 32 points on 33 shots, also took a leisurely approach to attack and had to settle for a difficult baseline runner that also missed the mark.

Both Oregon and FAU eventually lost in extra time. The line between advancing and going home is razor-thin and often decided in mere seconds. So it's a bit confusing to see these golden chances slip away without much haste or urgency. Again, these are only two occurrences and perhaps there's no larger conversation here. Yet it's perfectly natural for viewers to have some sort of anxiety when they realize precious time is running out and the person with the ball in their hands cannot maximize the moment.

Perhaps there's a lesson for the teams still alive to learn.

Kyle Koster is an editor at The Big Lead.