During two excruciating free throws late, it was his personal little pressure cooker.
The Missouri freshman was brilliant through all of it - and never more clutch than when he came off the bench to “pinch shoot” for the injured J.T. Tiller with 5.5 seconds left Sunday.
English made both free throws to give the Tigers the go-ahead points in an 83-79 victory over Marquette.
Yes, folks, this is how stars are born in the NCAA Tournament.
“He was sitting there auditioning for it,” Missouri coach Mike Anderson said. “Kim, he just gave me that look, and sometimes you just have that feeling and he went up and shot the ball well.”
Did anyone expect different?
He had what can only be described as an out-of-body experience during a 4½-minute shooting spree in the first half. He made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points during that stretch to help third-seeded Mizzou (30-6) turn a six-point deficit into a 16-point lead.
Still, English was on the bench for most of the second half, watching sixth-seeded Marquette chip away at the lead and eventually go ahead.
But when Tiller fell hard and hurt his right wrist after being fouled with the score tied at 79, Anderson took advantage of the college rule that allows teams to substitute for an injured free-throw shooter.
He chose English, who made both.
“He just said, ‘Kimmie,’ and I knew what that meant,” English said. “I’m so happy that he had faith in me to get up there and knock them down. I think anybody on the bench would’ve knocked them down, actually.”
After the English free throws, Marquette’s Lazar Hayward turned it over by stepping over the baseline on the ensuing inbounds pass, and the Golden Eagles (25-10) were forced to foul. Leo Lyons made two more free throws to ice the game and Missouri moved onto the West Regional semifinals to play Memphis, next Thursday in Glendale, Ariz.
It ruined a wonderful effort from Marquette senior Jerel McNeal, who matched his career high with 30 points, and Wesley Matthews, who scored 24.
It also brought lusty boos from the Marquette fans and others in the crowd, especially when they saw Tiller re-enter the game a second later to help the Tigers run out the clock. For the record, Tiller has been dealing with the wrist problem all season. And the rules say he can re-enter the game after the next whistle.
“It’s one of the technicalities of the game,” McNeal said. “If you’re somewhat hurt, faking hurt or whatever it is, you can lay on the ground and the trainer can come out and basically, you get a sub for them. It’s happened to me before and I’ve seen it done before so it wasn’t a big surprise to me.”
On paper, though, it wasn’t that great a move.
Coming into the game, Tiller was a 76 percent free-throw shooter while English, icing on the bench for most of the second half, shot only 68 percent.
The game, of course, isn’t decided on paper.
“I knew, right when I looked at him, if coach chose him he was going to knock ‘em down,” teammate Matt Lawrence said. “I’ve never seen a freshman with so much confidence.”
SUNDAY’S SECOND ROUND
- EAST REGIONAL -
Pittsburgh 84, Oklahoma St. 76
Xavier 60, Wisconsin 49
- SOUTH REGIONAL -
Syracuse 78, Arizona State 67
- MIDWEST REGIONAL -
Arizona 71, Cleveland State 57
Kansas 60, Dayton 43
Louisville 79, Siena 72
Michigan St. 74, USC 69
- WEST REGIONAL -
Missouri 83, Marquette 79
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
- EAST REGIONAL -
Thursday’s Games
Pittsburgh (30-4) vs. Xavier (27-7), 6:27 p.m.
Duke (30-6) vs. Villanova (28-7), after conclusion of first game
- SOUTH REGIONAL -
Friday’s Games
Oklahoma (29-5) vs. Syracuse (28-9), 6:27 p.m.
North Carolina (30-4) vs. Gonzaga (28-5), after conclusion of first game
- MIDWEST REGIONAL -
Friday’s Games
Louisville (30-5) vs. Arizona (21-13), 6:07 p.m.
Michigan State (28-6) vs. Kansas (27-7), after conclusion of first game
- WEST REGIONAL -
Thursday’s Games
Connecticut (29-4) vs. Purdue (27-9), 6:07 p.m.
Missouri (30-6) vs. Memphis (33-3), after conclusion of first game
