Texas 2023 grabbed the last Sweet 16 spot, surviving a 36 points, 8 steal performance by Larry Bird to beat Indiana State 1979 by a 97-96 score in overtime.
After 36 turnovers and lots of 3-pointers hit, the game was decided on the boards in the last two possessions for each team.
Alex Gilbert, the center who was the third best player on Larry Bird's national runner-up team, scored inside to give Indiana State a96-95 lead in overtime with only time for one possession for the Texas Longhorns of 2023. At the other end of the court Gilbert almost sealed the game with his 5th blocked shot of the game, but the rebound chart was an "18" meaning the offensive shooting guard Bob Heaton has the chance to grab the rebound to end the game.
While this team is all about Bird obviously, Gilbert is fascinating for a couple of reasons. First, he was not sent to the line during the game, but when I saw his card only made a free throw on a 1-5 on the 20-sided die I double checked, and sure enough he hit only 20 of 79 free throws that season. He did improve to Shaq range at 48 of 101 the next season so would have been a 1-10. The second interesting thing on his actual career was that the Milwaukee Bucks did take him in the first round but he did not make the team. The thing that gets interesting is that he went to a league in Iceland, scored 42 points in his sixth game for them to bring his per game average to 24.0 per game - and then was cut from the team. I wonder if any other players was ever cut after a 42 point game.
Unfortunately Heaton's Defensive Rebound range for the 6-sided die is only a 1-2, and the result was a "3" which means the player fails to get the rebound and instead it was grabbled by Texas' Tyrese Hunter - who went back up with it and scored the game-winner. The actual roll was a 6 on the 8-sided die which in a set offense would have gone to Marcus Carr (1&6) in a set offense, but on offensive rebounds or steals the 6,7 and 8 go to the player who grabbed the offensive rebound or the steal. The 20-sided die on Hunter's shot was actually a 2, but a player grabbing an offensive rebound cannot make a 3-point shot so it was a 2-point shot for the 97-96 win.
As for the game, Texas forced tons of turnovers early to pull ahead 46-35. Bird then started hitting everything but more importantly came up with an incredible 8 steals and his fellow future NBA player Carl Nicks added five that led a comeback including a 19-3 run to flip that 46-35 deficit to a 54-49 lead.
However, Sir'Jabari Rice went on a personal 7-0 run in three possessions and eventually the game was tied 70-70 with just over two minutes to play in regulation.
Bird hit a couple of 3-pointers in overtime to eventually give Indiana State a 93-88 lead. However, Marcus Carr hit two 3-pointers and had two steals in the closing possessions to set up the win. Click here to play your own Value Add Basketball Games for free.
Texas (2023) 97, Indiana State (1979) 96 in Overtime
| Indiana St. 1979 | Pts | Reb | Stls | Blks | Fls | Ht | Actual Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Nicks | 13 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6'1 | 19.3 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5.0 Ast |
| Bob Heaton | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6'5 | 7.3 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast |
| Larry Bird | 36 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 6'9 | 28.6 Pts, 14.9 Reb, 5.5 Ast |
| Leroy Staley | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6'4 | 7.0 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.7 Ast |
| Alex Gilbert | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 6'7 | 9.6 Pts, 6.1 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Steve Reed | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 | 5.0 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 7.0 Ast |
| Rich Nemcek | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'6 | 1.7 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.6 Ast |
| Scott Turner | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'5 | 2.1 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.3 Ast |
| Brad Miley | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6'8 | 5.7 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.6 Ast |
| Tom Crowder | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'5 | 1.9 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.2 Ast |
| Indiana St. 19 Turnovers | 96 | 31 | 15 | 6 | 15 | ||
| Texas 2023 | Pts | Reb | Stls | Blks | Fls | Ht | Actual Season |
| Marcus Carr | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6'2 | 15.9 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 4.1 Ast |
| Tyrese Hunter | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6'0 | 10.3 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.5 Ast |
| Sir'Jabari Rice | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6'4 | 13.0 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 2.0 Ast |
| Timmy Allen | 13 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6'6 | 10.5 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 3.5 Ast |
| Dylan Disu | 7 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6'9 | 8.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast |
| Dillon Mitchell | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6'8 | 4.3 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Brock Cunningham | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6'5 | 4.6 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 1.4 Ast |
| Arterio Morris | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 | 4.6 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.5 Ast |
| Christian Bishop | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6'7 | 6.6 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| Alex Anamekwe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'5 | 1.5 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Texas 17 Turnovers | 97 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 15 |
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