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Texas Tech’s Mac McClung Adorably Ditches Postgame Interview After Hitting Game-Winner vs. Texas

In Thursday’s Hot Clicks: a delightful postgame moment from Texas Tech’s star player, the James Harden blockbuster and more.

Dan Gartland

Go celebrate. You earned it. 

On Wednesday, Texas Tech picked up its biggest win of the season thus far , knocking off No. 4 Texas in Austin, 79–77. The No. 15 Red Raiders were led by junior Georgetown transfer Mac McClung, who led all scorers with 22 points and buried an absolutely fearless game-winner.

Tech’s strategy in the final seconds was straightforward. McClung brought the ball up the court and went one-on-one with Courtney Ramey. He took a few dribbles and then simply chucked the ball up over Ramey’s outstretched hand.

The game-winner was the biggest moment of McClung’s short career with the Red Raiders, after having his fair share of highlights with the Hoyas. So he was understandably eager to get back to the locker room after the final buzzer to celebrate.

There was just one thing standing in McClung’s way: ESPN’s broadcast crew of Rich Hollenberg and Fran Fraschilla, which wanted to talk to him about his big game. McClung humored them for a little bit, but then his teammates got tired of waiting and told him he needed to drop the headset and come join them.

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“My teammates are telling me I gotta go,” McClung said. “I respect you a lot, Fran. You're the man, but I gotta go celebrate with my teammates.”

Who can blame him? Whatever was going on in the locker room was surely a hundred times more fun than answering questions from two guys in the booth. And the sight of him running off with his arms pinwheeling to join the celebration was better TV than whatever his answer was going to be to Fraschilla’s question. 

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A good song

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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