Joe Alexander's Missed Free Throw Will Haunt Him For a Long Time

With all due respect to my fellow FanHouser Charles Rich, I think that Joe Alexander's missed free throw towards the end of regulation is the biggest un-clutch play of the tournament.

I hesitate to use the word choke because he made a sensational shot just to get the "and-one" play and tie the game 64-64 in the first place. He isn't a goat so much because his production was there in the second half and led to West Virginia's comeback effort.

But, let's get real: his missed free throw cost them the game and a chance to play UCLA in the West Regional Finals. He will be haunted by this for a long, long time.

And it was something that maybe Xavier's Stanley Burrell had to do with, as he tells SI.com:

The most glaring example of West Virginia's bungling came at the end of regulation. Star forward Joe Alexander was at the free-throw line with 14 seconds left, looking to convert a three-point play after his quick turnaround tied the score at 64.

Burrell jarred at him, "Come on, you are going to miss this one," and Alexander responded with a comment that, as Burrell put it, "You don't want to put in any [article]." After a longer-than-usual approach, Alexander's free throw rimmed out, and the game went to overtime.

The thing that stuck out was the "longer than usual approach" comment. The pressure got to him. A free throw shot in the first minute is the same as one shot with :15 remaining. You. Rim. Not to blame the kid for noticing because that is tremendous amount of pressure. But that happens in sports when so much is on the line and you are the star player in the clutch situation.

As Charles said in his piece, the Mountaineers would never have mounted that comeback without Alexander's outstanding play. Him fouling out in the overtime was so tough to overcome. And, yes, that missed defensive assignment on the B.J. Raymond three point shot was a dagger. But none of that would have happened if Alexander makes the free throw, gets the defensive stop on the other end (which they did) and sticks around Phoenix to play UCLA on Saturday.

I use the word haunt because it is very meaningful in college basketball this year. North Carolina has been haunted by that meltdown against Georgetown in last year's Elite 8. Memphis has been haunted by not getting over the hump and into the Final Four. UCLA has been haunted by two consecutive Final Four appearances and no titles. Kansas is always haunted.

Xavier has been haunted by a ... missed free throw ... that would have put away Ohio State in last year's tournament.

All of those teams are still alive. West Virginia goes home.

I honestly hope that Alexander does come back next year and can take the same kind of motivation that the teams above have been taking and make another tournament run. Of all the individual performances that have caught my eye ... it is him. I knew about Kevin Love and Courtney Lee and Stephen Curry. I didn't know the kind of game this kid had. I want to see him take it further next year and exorcise the demon of the missed free throw.