The first 2 rounds of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament are being played this weekend. There have already been some great games and historic upsets. March Madness is one of my favorite sporting events. I used to always try and take vacation from work during the tournament’s opening rounds so I could do nothing besides watch four days of college hoops and lament about how my bracket was busted after the first half day of games. I’ve watched countless tournament games over the years but one stands out as the Top NCAA Tournament Game…Of My Lifetime.

Kentucky vs Duke March 28, 1992

I’ve watched a lot of live sporting events throughout the years. I’ve often felt like I have a knack for tuning into historic games. Not Super Bowls or College football championship games. Every sports fan usually watches those events. I’m referring to games that are more random that turned out to be all-time greats or historical sporting events. I was watching “The Malice at the Palace” on a chilly Friday night in November of 2004. I was 24 years old. My usual Friday nights at that time in my life normally didn’t include NBA basketball. “The Bush Push”, “The Music City Miracle” and Reggie Miller’s 8 points in 9 seconds are just a few other examples. The 1992 Kentucky vs Duke game in the East Regional Finals is another game along those lines.

It was a Saturday afternoon. I was 11 years old. I’d watched a lot of college basketball over that weekend and the previous one. But I don’t remember staying in place long enough to watch an entire game. I would watch for awhile and then go out in our yard and try and emulate the players on my “dunk goal”. More than likely with a Final Four ball from Pizza Hut. Or I’d become disinterested and go in my room and play Super Nintendo or look through my baseball card collection. This game was different. It captivated me from the opening tip-off and even during halftime, when I would usually make my departure from the television set for other en devours, I stayed put anxious for the second half of action.

It was me and my Dad watching in our living room. He was in his usual spot in his recliner and I was on the couch. I’m not sure where my Mom or brother and sister were. Me and my old man watched a lot of sports together in that living room. Neither of us knew the history we were about to witness as we tuned in that afternoon. But we would talk about this game often over the following years. Even when I was a rebellious teenager and a little later a young man trying to find my way but at the same time thinking I had it all figured out, when me and my Dad had little else to talk about, we always had sports.

As for the game itself, it was two college basketball blue bloods, the 1 and 2 seeds in the East region facing off with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The Duke Bluedevils were the defending National Champions. They came into the game with a 25-2 record and had a roster filled with college hoop stars. Point guard, Bobby Hurley. Small forward, Grant Hill. And power forward Christian Laettner. They were coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who at the time was already regarded as one of the best coaches in college basketball and is now widely acknowledged as one of, if not the best college coach of all-time. The Kentucky Wildcats also had a strong team anchored by four experienced seniors and sophomore star, Jamal Mashburn. They were coached by Rick Patino, who is one of the all-time great college coaches in his own right.

The game was tightly contested throughout with Duke holding a small lead most of the time. The Bluedevils were up 50-45 at halftime and the action would only intensify after the intermission. A notable and controversial moment happened in the second half when Kentucky player Aminu Timberlake was knocked to the floor under the basket and Duke’s Laettner blatantly stepped on his chest. Laettner was given a technical foul but not ejected from the game. My dad was beside himself at this turn of events. As a huge Georgia Tech fan he had a strong dislike of Duke and in particular Christian Laettner. This view of Laettner was shared by many and would be chronicled in the 2015 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, I Hate Christian Laettner. Laettner avoiding automatic disqualification and being allowed to remain in the game would prove pivotal as he would go on to be the main character in the story of this game.

With 33 seconds left in the contest Kentucky would tie the score at 93 with a put back basket. Hurley had a chance to win the game for Duke but missed a shot at the buzzer and the game went into overtime. The teams would trade the lead throughout the extra period and after a timeout with 8 seconds left, Kentucky player Sean Woods hit a runner over Laettner to give the Wildcats a 102-101 lead. Duke would then call a timeout themselves with 2.1 seconds remaining. Things looked bleak for the Bluedevils at this point. Coach K drew up a play with Grant Hill inbounding under the basket at the opposite end of the court from their goal. Everybody including Kentucky knew that Duke would be trying to get the ball in Laettner’s hands for the final shot. Knowing this the Wildcats decided not to put a man on Hill but instead double team Laettner. This allowed Hill the ability to get off an uncontested 79 foot pass that landed perfectly in Laettner’s grasp at the opposite foul line. With his back to the basket Laettner dribbled once to his right, then turned back to his left and shot a turnaround jumper over Kentucky forward Deron Feldhaus just before time expired. The ball would swish through the net as time expired giving Duke the win 103-102. My Dad and I were both left speechless. We knew we’d just witnessed one of the best games of all-time.

“The Shot” and his performance in this game would go a long way towards cementing Christian Laettner’s legacy as one of the greatest college basketball players in history. Laettner finished the game with 31 points going a perfect 10-10 from both the field and the free throw line. Duke would go on to win their second consecutive National Championship and become a dominant force in college hoops for the next 20 years under Coach K’s leadership.

My Dad passed away in 2006. He was undoubtedly a key reason why I fell in love with sports. I still miss him and think about him a lot. But I can’t help but think about him a little more every March when the NCAA Tournament starts. Or every time I see a highlight of Laettner or “The Shot”. And besides the greatness of the game we watched together that March day all those years ago, my Daddy is why Kentucky vs Duke 1992 is The Top NCAA Tournament Game…Of My Lifetime.