‘One Shining Moment’ for Adam Woodbury and the Hawkeyes

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Adam Woodbury's one shining moment was aired live, in color and it was imperfectly perfect for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Inside of a second remaining in overtime, Iowa's 7-foot-1 center put back guard Mike Gesell's miss at the buzzer to push seventh-seeded Iowa to a 72-70 win against No. 10 seed Temple in a first-round NCAA tournament game Friday afternoon. The win was only the program's second in overtime in 55 NCAA games and vaults the Hawkeyes (22-10) into a second-round match-up with No. 2 seed Villanova (30-5) at 11:10 a.m. Sunday (CBS).

Iowa teammates instantly mobbed Woodbury as he turned toward the bench. He didn't have time to lift his arms before he was swarmed. It's the buzzer-beater that will air on CBS' 'One Shining Moment” after the title game and the play that will precede Woodbury every time Sioux City native walks into a building for the rest of his life.

'We gave him the game ball, and I'm sure he'll cherish that for the rest of his life,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

'I know it's a moment he'll never forget, and it's a moment I'll never forget,” Gesell said.

In a game that changed leads 11 times, including twice in overtime, the final sequence opened with 22 seconds left. Temple forward Daniel Dingle missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Gesell took the ball down the floor. He first tried to find guard Peter Jok, who was tightly guarded. Gesell dribbled to his right and with about two seconds left, he threw up a high, arcing shot just past Temple guard Josh Brown. The ball landed short, just in front of the rim. Woodbury positioned for the rebound, nudged Temple's Obi Enechionyia out of the way and quickly tipped the ball toward the basket. The ball bounced gently off the back of the rim and rolled through the net as the lights flashed around the backboard.

'Fortunately the ball bounced right to me and I was able to put it in,” said Woodbury, who finished with 10 points and five rebounds. 'I was in the right place at the right time.”

As he sat in his locker and broke down the play, Woodbury pointed to his left biceps, which had a significant scrape. His nose was red and swollen. He was asked about his push, which wasn't called, and Woodbury said, 'You're not going to call that foul with two seconds left to go in the game.”

'Every time the ball came off the glass, it was like a fumble in football,” he added. 'Everybody was diving on the floor, going over each other's backs. They weren't calling a lot of fouls in that sense.”

The game was rough and physical, just as advertised. Temple (21-12) is a hardscrabble team from Philadelphia and Iowa is hardened from a season in the Big Ten. The teams combined to shoot just 11 of 46 from 3-point range, and Iowa missed 19 of its final 21 3-pointers. Iowa tied a season-low with only three turnovers, but Temple out-rebounded the Hawkeyes 49-38.

After missing its first four shots of the game, Iowa then connected on its next seven. The Hawkeyes led 32-2- midway through the first half before Temple took a 33-32 lead on a 13-0 run. Iowa regained the advantage and led 38-37 at halftime.

Iowa stormed to a 10-point lead early in the second half, but Temple stayed within range the rest of the game. With 18.4 seconds left, Jok hit one of two free throws to put Iowa ahead by four. Temple's Quenton DeCosey, who scored a game-high 26 points, scored with 11 seconds left to cut the Owls' deficit to two. On Iowa's next possession, Jok was fouled again and sank one of two free throws to boost Iowa ahead 63-60 with 8.8 seconds left. Six seconds later, DeCosey launched a game-tying attempt from 3-point range, but he was fouled by Iowa's Anthony Clemmons. DeCosey hit all three free throws to send the game into overtime.

In a situation where Iowa has struggled over the years, the last possession became their sanctuary. Iowa was 2-6 this year in games decided by five points or less. Over the last three years when Iowa had the ball in a game-tying or game-winning situation with 11 seconds left or less, the Hawkeyes were 2 of 15 from the field with four turnovers. Iowa hadn't hit a buzzer-beater since 2008.

The last play almost became another statistic. Instead it became one shining moment.

'It's something I'll never forget,” Woodbury said. 'It's something I can tell my kids and grandkids about, and I'm just happy we're moving on.”

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