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In theory, a single play amid a 40-minute contest doesn't matter any more than any other play.
In theory, a single shot in a game with 128 field goal attempts – and another 39 attempts from the free throw line – shouldn't matter any more than any other single shot attempt.
That's all true in theory. But sports isn't like that.
Sports are all about the one play. The one shot. The one moment that we've determined decided the contest. Decided the fate of a team. Decided it all.
And so, we must grapple with the final play, the final shot, the final moment. We must examine the layup Tremont Waters made with 1.6 seconds remaining that decided the contest.
Should that final shot, in the final 20-second interval of a 40-minute game with 128 field goal attempts, have counted?
No whistle was blown. No call was made.
And so the reality is this: In the game's final moments, Maryland forward Jalen Smith was beaten to his left, and on the game's final shot attempt, LSU's Tremont Waters scored the game's final basket.
The final moment, the final play, the final shot attempt, the final basket, and the final day for the Terps in the NCAA Tournament.
No one play decides an entire game. But one play is enough to leave you crushed.
One no-call is enough to make you demand replay review.
Don't think so? Just ask a football fan from Louisiana.