Houston basketball’s Milos Uzan will forever be remembered in Cougars lore for his game-winning bucket against Purdue in the Sweet 16. A potential foul that would’ve negated the last possession entirely likely won’t, however.
It’s worth noting there are, of course, plenty of what-ifs through the course of a game. But a play between Uzan and Purdue’s Braden Smith felt especially important.
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REQUIRED READING: Houston’s Milos Uzan beats buzzer, Purdue on inbound play to send Cougars to Elite Eight
As Uzan prepped to run Houston’s last set in the 60-60 game with under 20 seconds left, he drove right before putting a slight shoulder into Smith, who appeared to play off the shove and set his feet for a push or charge. The referees let the teams play through it, however, which led into the Cougars’ game-winning inbounds play.
“He got away with one there,” color analyst Steve Lappas said on the game broadcast.
Uzan followed up the no-call foul with a perfectly dialed-up inbound play, as he found Joseph Tugler in the paint before Tugler immediately bounce-passed back to Uzan for the game-winning shot at the rim with 0.8 seconds left.
Uzan was magnificent in the game altogether, with a game-leading 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting with six assists and three rebounds on the night. He outdueled Smith, the Big Ten Player of the Year, who had an off-shooting night with seven points on 2-of-7 shots. Smith dished out a whopping 15 assists, though.
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The men’s NCAA Tournament could be looking at a much different outcome if there was a foul called there, and it appears it could’ve gone either way in the moment.
Here’s a look at the potential push by Uzan late in Houston-Purdue on Friday night:
Did Milos Uzan foul vs Purdue?
Here’s a look at the potential foul on Uzan that wasn’t called late in Houston’s game-winning possession over Purdue:
The result was a Houston set on the baseline, which Uzan ultimately made with 0.9 seconds left to give Houston the win and send the Cougars to the Elite Eight to play Tennessee.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did Houston get away with foul vs Purdue?
