It’s been 25 years since Duke’s Christian Laettner last-second shot in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament took down Kentucky in Philadelphia.
On Sunday, another No. 32 jersey (North Carolina’s Luke Maye) hit a shocking game-winning jumper in the final second to again crush Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
The ouster left Kentucky players in tears and voicing raw emotion.
On Monday, Laettner, who played in four consecutive Final Fours and was the subject of a film -- "I Hate Christian Laettner" -- documenting his college basketball supervillain status, reveled in another pained Kentucky team.
He tweeted in tribute to Maye: "Luke my son...May the force of the #32 be with you. #uncdownsthecats #theshotlives"
Laettner’s “The Shot,” with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime on March 28, 1992, catapulted the Blue Devils to the Final Four, where they would defeat Indiana and later Michigan to win the NCAA championship. It remains one of the NCAA Tournament’s defining moments.
Laettner went on to have a 15-year NBA career that included a stint with the Atlanta Hawks.
Maye’s North Carolina faces Oregon in one tournament semifinal Saturday, April 1. Top-seeded Gonzaga faces surprise semifinalist South Carolina in the other semifinal game.
The national champion will be decided Monday, April 3, in Phoenix.
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