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Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Tourney makes stars in an instant
ESPN.com
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Harold Arceneux, Weber State, 1999
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 The Game: NCAA first round vs. North Carolina in Seattle
The line: 36 points in 76-74 upset
The lore: Arceneaux practically beat North Carolina by himself as the nation first discovered Weber State. He was a one-man offensive show in that game and the next, when he scored 32 points against Florida in a 82-74 overtime loss. While he remained among the nation's leading scorers (23.0 ppg as senior), he couldn't duplicate his exploits the following season as Weber State failed to reach the NCAAs.
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Lorenzo Charles, North Carolina State, 1983
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 The Game: NCAA final vs. Houston in Albuquerque, N.M.
The line: Last-second put-back gave Wolfpack a 54-52 win
The lore: The basket, which came off Dereck Whittenburg's miss from near half-court, will go down forever as one of the best finishes in NCAA history. Charles, who averaged just 8.1 points per game that season, had just four points that night -- but the biggest two -- sending coach Jim Valvano into a mad dash onto the court that captivated the country and made Charles a household name.
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Bryce Drew, Valparaiso, 1998
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 The Game: NCAA first round vs. Mississippi at Okla. City, Okla.
The line: Hit last-second shot to give Valpo a 70-69 win
The lore: Drew's shot gave the 13th-seeded Crusaders an improbable win. With 2.5 seconds left, Valpo's Jamie Sykes threw a long pass from the baseline past midcourt to Bill Jenkins, who sent a touch pass to Drew for an off-balance 3-pointer that beat the buzzer. He celebrated with a dive on the floor. The son of coach Homer Drew, Bryce averaged 19.8 ppg game that season -- the fourth straight tourney appearance for the Crusaders.
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Tate George, Connecticut, 1990
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 The Game: NCAA Sweet 16 vs. Clemson in East Rutherford, N.J.
The line: Hit last-second shot to give Huskies a 71-70 win
The lore: George's buzzer beater was the shot that jump-started UConn's national profile. The Huskies needed some drama to prove it belonged on the national college basketball stage -- and got it when George took an inbound pass from Scott Burrell and scored with one second left to move the Huskies into a regional final against Duke -- where, ironically, Duke won on a last-second shot.
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Bo Kimble, Loyola Marymount, 1990
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 The Game: NCAA first round vs. N.M. State in Long Beach, Ca.
The line: Scored 45 points in 111-92 win
The lore: A week earlier, Kimble's friend Hank Gathers died on the court during a conference tournament game. Kimble, still in mourning, went out and nearly single-handedly buried New Mexico State -- even shooting a free throw left-handed in honor of his fallen teammate. He scored 45 points and had 18 rebounds despite playing most of the second half with four fouls. "If Hank saw us sitting around feeling sad, crying, he'd laugh his heart off at us," Kimble said at the time. "I decided that Hank wasn't going to laugh at me."
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Jimmy King, Michigan, 1992
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 The Game: NCAA Final vs. North Carolina in New Orleans
The line: Scored 15 points and had six rebounds
The lore: He was like the fifth Beatle, since all the Fab Five talk was about Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and even Ray Jackson. But he had a big night in Michigan's second straight trip (and second straight loss) in the national title game. While the others left early, King stayed on and played two more years at Michigan and had a cup of coffee in the NBA.
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Marvin O'Connor, St. Joseph's, 2001
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 The Game: NCAA second round vs. Stanford in San Diego
The line: Scored 37 points in 90-83 loss
The lore: O'Connor's 37 points came after one of those performances where everyone cheered in the arena. "I never heard of him before we drew St. Joe's," said Stanford All-American guard Casey Jacobsen. "Now what do I think of him? That is the most amazing performance I've seen of a player that I've guarded.'' O'Connor became a national name, but his senior season was a disappointment. He was a second-team all-conference pick as a senior, averaging 17.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
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Matt Santangelo, Gonzaga, 1999
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 The Game: NCAA second round vs. Stanford in Seattle
The line: Scored 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 2nd Round upset of Stanford
The lore: If Gonzaga wasn't on the map before, Santangelo helped put it there in a big win over Stanford which pushed Gonzaga to its first Sweet 16. He followed it up with an 11-point, 7-assist game against Florida to move Gonzaga to within a game of the Final Four. But the fairy tale ended there: he had just two points and two assists in loss to eventual national champion Connecticut.
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Terrell Taylor, Creighton, 2002
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 The Game: NCAA first round vs. Florida in Chicago
The line: Last-second 3-pointer beats Florida
The lore: Taylor wasn't even a starter for Creighton, but he scored 28 points (all in the second half and two overtimes) against the Gators -- including his eighth 3-pointer of the day with two-tenths of a second remaining in double overtime. The 28 points matched his season high. A year later, he wasn't even on the team -- a personality clash with coach Dana Altman meant he wasn't wanted back. After leaving Creighton and not hooking up with another team, he entered the 2002 NBA draft and wasn't drafted.
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Scotty Thurman, Arkansas, 1994
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 The Game: NCAA final vs. Duke in Charlotte, N.C.
The line: Three-pointer in final minute beat Duke
The lore: Arkansas was down 10 points in the second half. Thurman, a guard, took a pass on the right wing from teammate Dwight Stewart and, with the shot clock winding down, hit a 3-pointer with Duke's Antonio Lang in his face. The Razorbacks went on to win 76-72. "He made a great play. The national championship, less than a minute left, tie game -- he made a great shot," said Duke's Chris Collins. A year later, Thurman had just five points in title game against UCLA as Razorbacks lost. Thurman ended up leaving Arkansas after his junior season a year later and had a marginal pro career.
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