AUBURN, Ala. – Down one with nine seconds left Saturday, Auburn needed a play to win the game.
It would've made sense to try and get Samir Doughty or Devan Cambridge open for a 3. Both were red hot from deep and had over 20 points already. The Tigers could've also looked inside where Austin Wiley had been dominant in the second half. But there were too many variables with those options. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl wanted to put the ball in J'Von McCormick's hands and let his point guard do the rest.
"It's a simple matter of J'Von is the quickest guy on the floor," Pearl said.
For McCormick, the thought of passing never crossed his mind. Not with nine seconds left.
"I was always going to shoot it," he said. "Bruce wants the ball in my hands. I wanted the ball in my hands. My teammates are confident that I'm going to make a good decision with it."
Some might have expected McCormick to pull up from long range. He knocked down three 3s in a span of 20 seconds at the end of regulation to bring Auburn back and force the overtime period. But that wasn't the play call. Pearl wanted McCormick to get downhill and get to the rim, so he drew up a play for Wiley to come up to the top of the key and set a smoke screen on LSU's Trendon Watford.
The screen allowed McCormick to get into the lane where he found just enough room to get off a floater before the clock ran out.
The shot itself wasn't an easy shot by any means, but it's a shot that McCormick has worked on tirelessly throughout the season. He and Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman practice that same contested floater four times a week, maybe more. He'll do some where he goes up with his right hand, right knee. He'll do others with his right hand, left knee.
"I did a lot of stuff with Jared [Harper] last year," Bowman said. "Just knowing that sub 6-foot point guards have to have a shot that they can get to in that instance – at the end of shot clocks or end of games where you can't get all the way to the basket and when the defense takes away those outlet passes to perimeter shooters.
"J'Von has allocated enough time to where he's doing 45 minutes of that four times a week to put himself in a position to be ready when the opportunity presents itself."
The opportunity presented itself Saturday, and McCormick did not disappoint.
There was a pause in the arena, however, as the ball hit the rim first and then the backboard before it ultimately dropped through the net with 0:00.1 left on the clock.
"Everybody was just going to the rim to crash the boards in case he missed it," Auburn freshman Isaac Okoro said. "I thought Austin might have touched it going in, so I was kind of nervous. But he said he didn't touch it. I believe him."
"Nah, I didn't touch it," Wiley said. "I jumped. I feel like if it came off, it was going to be mine because I was right there. It's a good thing I didn't touch it or interfere."
Game. Winner. 😤#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/MFGRaeGA1z
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 8, 2020
Sophomore guard Jamal Johnson watched the entire sequence from the bench, and when McCormick put up the shot, there was never a doubt in his mind.
"He's known for finishing well at the basket," Johnson said. "As soon as he put it up there, I knew it was going to find a way to go in because he works so hard at practice and getting extra work in finishing around the rim. I just feel like he's destined to make those shots."
Like Johnson, Bowman watched from the bench. It's a shot he's seen time and time again.
"My vantage point from the bench was he did exactly what he's been working on," Bowman said. "LSU went to a 1-3-1 zone that they play a lot. We got a screener in the middle. He picked up the ball right in the spot he needed to be just because of where the defense was, and he let it fly like he does every day."
Of all the floaters McCormick has taken this year, none have been or will be as memorable as the one he made Saturday. It was a fitting end to what was a crazy, back-and-forth game.
"We definitely gave the fans a show," McCormick said. "And we didn't lose at home."