Win a big college basketball game on a last-second play, and it's back slaps and high-fives for the hero. In Saturday's case, with No. 1 Tennessee visiting Illinois, it was Jordan Gainey who made an exquisite play at the end of regulation to boost the Vols over the top, 66-64.
Lose in that same scenario? Fingers point and eyes scan across an entire program looking for someone to blame. This time the digit in question was coach Brad Underwood's own, and it was pointed matter-of-factly back at himself.
"I wish I had the last five seconds over," Underwood said after the game. "I would have called timeout â€" and give Gainey credit, he made a heck of a play â€" but that's where this team has to continue to grow."
That last comment wasn't a hedge. Underwood said it's his job to ensure clear communication between his players and between the players and coaching staff. And he pointed to similar missteps down the stretch â€" like a bad sideline out-of-bounds play that, all in one flash-bang moment, gave away an Illini possession and cleared the runway for a momentum-shifting Tennessee dunk.
But it was Gainey's final play that will be remembered most. Underwood, for one, is unlikely to get it out of his head anytime soon.
"I think it's just common sense that you want to call a timeout after a free throw so you can get your defense set," he said.
Underwood pointed to a play, just a moment before Gainey's buzzer beater, that had sent guard Kasparas Jakucionis to the line to tie the game as evidence: "You know, we always push, like we did at the end of regulation to get there," he said. "Anytime there's 10 seconds or under â€" we actually practice this â€" we push. We got KJ fouled. So they just flipped it."
A possession here, a possession there. Bad bounces happen. Shots don't always drop. But to win at the highest levels in college basketball, the room for error is often minuscule â€" sometimes zero. Failing to control the elements that are within one's control can mean failing to capitalize on a chance to knock off the NCAA's top-ranked team.
"I should have called the timeout, point blank," Underwood said. "I should have called the timeout after KJ made the free throw, Game tied, get our defense set, and we weren't quite where we needed to be. And five seconds is a long time in a game that. You know, he made the play."