The last 16.8

With 16.8 seconds left in the 2008 Elite Eight matchup between Davidson and Kansas, the Wildcats called a timeout down 59-57. KU assistant Joe Dooley and Stephen Curry, then Davidson's star guard, describe what happened next.



:16.8 left
DOOLEY: In the huddle, we talked about keeping everybody in front of you. We didn't want them to have any momentum up the court. Everyone in the arena knew where the ball was going.
CURRY: We talked about starting the play with the ball in the hands of our point guard, Jason Richards. But we didn't want him trapped where he couldn't find me. So I took the inbounds.

:15.9 left
DOOLEY: We had Brandon Rush guard Curry off the inbounds. We wanted Brandon to make sure Curry caught the ball going backward.
CURRY: I moved up the court deliberately; there was plenty of time left. I waited for Thomas Sander to set the flat ball screen up top. Depending on what I saw, I would drive the lane to tie, shoot a three or find Bryant Barr off of another screen. He was hot that night.




:7.8 left
DOOLEY: The plan was to switch on all ball screens and handoffs. It's something our guys were familiar with and, with the exception of Rush's slipping, something our team executed perfectly.
CURRY: That first screen is supposed to be on a big, but they had four guards out there and were able to switch. That kind of defeated the purpose of the play. The one big out there [Rush] was really a guard in a forward's body, so he was able to recover pretty quick after slipping.


:7.0 left
DOOLEY: When Brandon went down, Mario Chalmers saw it and ran back at Curry.
CURRY: I went toward the second screen, but Chalmers slipped it. Rush was up by then, and I was doubled just long enough to keep me from getting off a shot before one of them backed off.



:5.1 left
DOOLEY: Curry ran two screens to get open between about the five- and three-second mark, and it was the same situation. We weren't going to double him because he's not a big, and that's not what we do with guards.
CURRY: I got a good ball fake in, and Rush really bit on it. But Jason's defender [Sherron Collins] got a late break when Jason came back up the sideline, and he ended up in the perfect place at the perfect time to pick me up.


:2.0 left
DOOLEY: Curry didn't get a good look and eventually had to pass it off to Richards for a shot.
CURRY: Jason really beat himself up over missing that shot. He keeps apologizing for it. It was just good defense. I'd dish it off to him again right now if we were there again.