Yahoo Autos Spontaneous or scripted? What really happened on Markquis Nowell’s daring alley-oop pass
It is a play that will go down as one of the most brazen game-winners in NCAA Tournament history, but no one could seem to agree if it was spontaneous or deliberate.
Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson have connected on their fair share of lobs this season, but none bigger than the alley-oop in the final minute of overtime that helped seal Kansas State’s 98-93 victory over Michigan State in a March Madness instant classic in the Sweet 16.
With the game tied and time dwindling at Madison Square Garden, Nowell dribbled 40 feet away from the basket and appeared to be arguing with K-State head coach Jerome Tang about the play call. What happened next is sure to be replayed every March for years to come.
While still arguing with his coach, Nowell suddenly snapped an alley-oop pass from just inside half-court to a back-cutting Johnson, who caught the ball in front of the basket as he was rising in the air and smoothly reverse dunked it to put the Wildcats in the lead for good.
“(Nowell) wanted to run one play and I wanted to run another,” Tang told reporters. “While (Michigan State) was caught up in us bickering with each other, (Nowell) and Keyontae just made eye contact. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time moments and that’s what happened.”
It was an all-time alley-oop and an all-time pass from Nowell, the New York City native who fittingly broke the NCAA Tournament record with his career-high 19th assist in the game.
Surely a play that was executed so flawlessly with so much on the line had been rehearsed before, right?
“We just made eye contact,” Johnson offered up.
“It was just a basketball play between me and Keyontae,” Nowell added.
The Eagle studied the game film to determine how exactly K-State pulled off such a memorable play and why K-State’s insistence that the alley-oop was spontaneous could be just like Nowell and Tang arguing — just for show.
How K-State pulled off game-winning alley-oop play
With the game knotted at 92 in overtime, Michigan State’s Tyson Walker pulled up for a potential go-ahead shot and the Wildcats rebounded the miss.
As Nowell brought the ball up the court, TBS cameras showed Tang on the sideline with his arms perpendicular and his hands folded in. It’s possible he was telling Nowell to slow the pace down, but it’s also possible that was the signal for what was about to unfold.
That would also explain why Nowell immediately turned to former NBA star Isiah Thomas, sitting courtside with former Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves, and told him, “Watch this.”
“Dang, I’ve got to watch what I say,” Nowell said while laughing at the podium afterward. “I was talking to Isiah because I think he had a friend over there and he was rooting for them. I’m like, ‘Y’all not going to win today.’ I just kept looking at him for some added motivation, but it was nothing but cool vibes with them.”
As soon as Nowell crossed half-court, Desi Sills stood up from the bench and appeared to make the same motion with his arms to the players on the court.
Meanwhile, Nowell and Tang barked back and forth with each other: The coach yelled something that the star point guard demonstrably waved off. Then Nowell held up two fingers, perhaps setting the time count because Tang immediately followed with a chop, then what could be construed as a countdown — holding up two fingers, then one, then nodding to Nowell as if to tell him, “Throw it.”
Johnson’s cut from the right corner was also timed to Tang’s hand movement, as the 6-foot-6 senior made his cut along the baseline as soon as his coach raised one finger.
Michigan State’s A.J. Hoggard, who was guarding Johnson, was caught ball-watching for just a moment, but that split-second was all K-State needed to create an all-time memorable moment with impeccable timing — on a play that the K-State locker room unanimously claimed was unscripted.
“That was just spur of the moment,” Sills said. “I think they just made eye contact. They’re both All-Americans for a reason.”
