His confidence could have been shaken. His ego could have been bruised. His head could have been a mess.
Yeah, right. One of the most talented freshmen in the country responded with the biggest shot of his career.
Knight, held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift No. 4 seed Kentucky to a 59-57 win over 13th-seeded Princeton in the second round of the NCAA tournament Thursday.
The Tigers (25-7) shut Knight down much of the game, doubling him on drives, putting a hand in his face on the perimeter and contesting every shot.
Kentucky coach John Calipari, who proclaimed, "You can't count on freshmen" a day earlier, pulled him down the stretch. But with the game on the line, Calipari put the ball in Knight's hands.
He delivered, and Big Blue advanced to face West Virginia in the third round Saturday.
It was the biggest contribution Kentucky (26-8) got from its trio of talented newcomers. Fellow freshman Terrence Jones finished with 10 points, and Doron Lamb added seven. Knight had scored in double figures in 32 of his previous 33 games.
With those guys off, upperclassmen carried the Wildcats most of the way. Darius Miller scored 17 points, and lone senior Josh Harrellson added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Deandre Liggins chipped in eight points, including a 3-pointer with 5:38 remaining and a driving bank shot with a little more than a minute to play.
But Princeton, the school known for scaring - and even beating - some of college basketball's most storied programs in the NCAA tournament, never gave up.
Kareem Maddox hit a turnaround jumper with 57.8 seconds remaining, and Dan Mavraides sank a step-back jumper with 36.7 seconds left that tied the game.
Calipari called timeout and got Knight back into the game. Knight dribbled the ball near midcourt, keeping an eye on the dwindling clock, and started moving with about 10 seconds left. He broke down one defender, juked another and floated a perfect shot off the backboard.
His teammates erupted, as did the vocal Kentucky faithful who filled the St. Pete Times Forum. The Tigers had one final chance, but they failed to get off a shot before the buzzer.
Mavraides led Princeton with 14 points. Douglas Davis finished with 13, all of them in the first half. Maddox chipped in 12 points, and Ian Hummer added 11.
Princeton missed 11 of 14 shots from 3-point range, but made up the poor long-range shooting with backdoor cuts and precision passing.
Brandon Knight
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/3/237158