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Louisville's Jaylen Johnson misses free throw by three feet

Jeff Eisenberg
Senior writer

The best performance of Jaylen Johnson's career included a jaw-dropping dunk, a frightening fall and a hilariously off-target free throw.

With just over two minutes left in Louisville's 91-83 victory at Virginia Tech on Thursday night, Johnson dove for a loose ball, crashed into Hokies forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. and bent his right arm back at an awkward angle. The way Johnson clutched his arm as he writhed on the ground in pain, Louisville coach Rick Pitino feared he may have broken it.

"He had a miraculous recovery," Pitino told reporters after the game "I think he was just trying to scare the [expletive] out of me."

Indeed a mere 34 seconds later, Johnson returned to the game with a flourish, catching a long inbound pass from Damion Lee, throwing down a one-handed breakaway dunk with his injured right arm and drawing a foul in the process. The arm didn't seem to be bothering him on the dunk, but the free throw was a different story.

Why did Johnson leave his free throw three feet short? It's hard to say for certain since reporters in Louisville didn't ask him about it after the game.

On one hand, the sophomore forward has only made 11 of 26 free throws during his college career. On the other hand, it's difficult to believe the fall didn't have something to do with him missing so badly the crowd collectively gasped.

Johnson grimaced before attempting the free throw, shook his right arm afterward and wore an ice pack on his forearm after the game.

The errant free throw shouldn't detract too much from an otherwise excellent performance off the bench from Johnson. He tallied a career highs of 11 points and nine rebounds and also delivered the game's most memorable dunk, catching a lob pass from Quentin Snider, cocking his right arm back and throwing down a powerful one-handed alley-oop slam.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!