Jamaal Franklin’s buzzer beater bails out San Diego State
Moments after Jamaal Franklin sank a buzzer-beating three to secure a 65-62 Mountain West quarterfinal victory over Boise State, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher shared the instructions he gave his team.
"Give him the ball and let him make a play," Fisher told the MTN network.
Fisher probably anticipated Franklin would go to the rim, but sometimes a play can look ugly and still produce the desired results. The sophomore star didn't get the positioning he wanted on the elbow, so he pulled up at the top of the key, fired over a double team and buried the shot as time expired.
Franklin's shot propelled the top-seeded Aztecs into the Mountain West semifinals where they will meet a Colorado State team that split two regular season meetings against them earlier this year. San Diego State is trying to play its way out of the dreaded eight-nine seed line in the NCAA tournament and perhaps as high as a No. 5 or 6 seed.
Hours before tipoff of the Mountain West quarterfinals, San Diego State's student section unveiled a billboard across the street from the UNLV campus exhorting the Aztecs to "Win Win Win, Cut Down Nets." It's a good thing Franklin's shot went down or that billboard may have had a very short shelf life.
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