As time expired during the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, Gordon Hayward ‘s missed half court shot remains one of the most iconic shots in March Madness history.
The story of that game has been told repeatedly, with many of the discussions centering on whether Hayward had a chance to make the basket. But for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski , the real talk should be on whether it was a shot or a heave. Coach K believes it’s the latter.
” Missed heave,” Krzyzewski said . “I hate when they call it a shot. I never looked at Hayward’s as a shot; I looked at it as a heave, and when you shoot from 50 feet, it’s a heave,” Krzyzewski said. “And when it does go in, whether it goes in at the end of a half or the end of the game, it’s a heck of a thing.”
Coach K ordered Zoubek to miss his second free throw
Coach K’s Blue Devils entered the title game as 7.5-point favorites to win the National title. But somehow, the gritty Bulldogs kept it close. With 2:04 left to play, Duke held a 60-55 lead. However, Matt Howard scored back-to-back layups for Butler to cut the lead to 60-59. Things were just beginning to get interesting.