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The SEC Tournament semifinals between top-seeded Alabama and fourth-seeded Tennessee came down to the wire, but ultimately, the Crimson Tide were able to hold off their foes from Rocky Top, 73-68. Alabama, the No. 6 team in all of college basketball, barely avoided getting pushed to overtime, as a three towards the end of regulation by Keon Johnson ended up being an airball.
The issue was that Dick Vitale, due to a pretty awkward view of things and Johnson’s effort missing in a very specific way, thought that the attempt was the most perfect swish you’ll ever see. For a good eight seconds, Vitale got caught off guard thinking that the game was tied at 71, with his reaction getting cut short by broadcast partner Karl Ravech saying that it was an airball.
OH NOOOOOO Dickie V pic.twitter.com/0lAx7mTPOT
— Hammer DAHN (@HammerDAHN) March 13, 2021
Vitale did get a bit of heat for his enthusiasm for the game getting the best of him here, but in fairness, you can see how someone gets tripped up here, in part because it sounds like some Vols fans in the arena got fooled and began cheering. At the very least, this is a fun chance to remember an NBA game that once ended in similar fashion: Back in 2013, the Detroit Pistons traveled to Washington to take on the Wizards, and on the home team’s final possession, Trevor Ariza shot an airball that got a whole bunch of folks in the home arena excited.
