Watch: Wild James Madison-Kent State ending reminder of other crazy finishes
The James Madison Dukes are must-watch TV early in the 2023-24 college basketball season.
After upsetting No. 4 Michigan State in overtime in their opener, the Dukes trailed Kent State 89-84 on Thursday with 3.8 seconds left.
Then Noah Freidel caught a long inbounds pass from Julien Wooden and immediately hit a turnaround three. Kent State committed an offensive foul on the ensuing inbounds attempt, giving JMU the ball back without time coming off the clock.
With the ball beneath Kent State's basket, Freidel used a strong perimeter screen to get free and put in a wide-open layup at the buzzer to force overtime.
In overtime, Kent State nailed its own clutch three to send the game to a second OT. Then JMU eventually ended the Golden Flashes' 23-game home winning streak, securing a 113-108 victory.
Incredible rallies like this are the best part of college basketball, especially during March Madness, which is only four months away. Here are other improbable comebacks worth recounting:
Furman vs. Virginia: 2023 NCAA Tournament Round of 64
Love or hate his style, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett always seems to have extremely disciplined, well-coached units. That's what made No. 4 seed UVA's collapse against No. 13 seed Furman so bizarre.
With seven seconds remaining and a two-point lead, Virginia had an 88 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN's win probability. It just needed to bleed the clock after successfully inbounding the ball.
Veteran guard Kihei Clark, however, got caught in the corner and heaved a prayer down the court, which Garrett Hien intercepted and promptly passed to JP Pegues, who drilled a winning three.
Texas A&M vs. Northern Iowa: 2016 NCAA Tournament Round of 32
After trailing by 12 with 35 seconds left, Texas A&M mounted a furious rally.
A tenacious full-court press combined with clutch shot-making allowed the Aggies to put together a 14-2 run that sent the game to overtime. A&M eventually won, 92-86.
NCAA director of media coordination/statistics David Worlock posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the 12-point rally was the largest ever with less than a minute left.
Georgia State vs. Baylor: 2015 NCAA Tournament Round of 64
You may remember the viral video of Georgia State's R.J. Hunter knocking down a deep and contested three that sent his head coach (and dad) Ron Hunter flying from the rolling chair he was using while recovering from an Achilles tear.
You may not remember that No. 14 Georgia State held No. 3 Baylor scoreless for the final 2:44 of the game en route to a 12-point comeback and a 57-56 win.
"It was a great game, but I'm not going to be coach right now. I'm going to be dad," Ron Hunter said afterward
More must-reads: