Danny Ainge buzzer beater sends BYU to 1981 Elite Eight 

Only hs player in history to be All American in 3 sports. Record still stands.

That is a lifetime memory to smile about the rest of your life.

this notre dame team had a ton of nba talent.. tripuka, wooldridge and paxon!

I was a student in a dorm room in Provo, Utah watching this game with four other students on a 10 inch black and white TV when this play happened. Bedlam broke out, and it seemed as though every car horn in town was honking.

I was 15 when this took place, watching it on a small TV at a friend of my dad's. In my memory it was the national championship, and Ainge dribbled from the right to the left. My dad and his friend are both gone now. Forty years ago.

And Danny Ainge is still running into the locker room in glory.

Ainge actually beat ALL FIVE Notre Dame players on that play.

I love it when Notre Dame loses. The following year ND would go 10-17 and then Digger Phelps would complain about how other schools had committed recruiting violations. Coaches responded that Digger would not complain when his teams won 20 or more games. He made it to the Final Four in 1978. He did not complain that year. ND always making excuses when they lose.

Eventually, Paxson got back at Ainge in the NBA as a team member of the Chicago Bulls in their first championship three-peat.

BYU fans are still living off of that play.

….and that Irish team was loaded future NBA players. Digger was one of the most overrated coaches in NCAA history.

It was the behind the back dribble that made the play. Ainge was a great athlete football baseball and hoops. And Tripuka was not a defensive player and Orlando Woolridge played zero D!

I remember this game very well. I was 10 years old and cheered and bawled like a baby when he hit that shot. I was so happy, that I wore my asked my parents if I could wear the BYU shirt I had on to bed. Best pajamas I ever wore. 👍🏻💙

like silk SILK

Now, that's matador defense.

Three months later, Larry Bird would win his first NBA championship as a pro. And later, he and Ainge would be forever linked.

Wow! He deserves his own planet after that shot.

What a Notre Dame Team that was! Tripuka,John Paxton,Orlando Woodridge,Tracy Jackson. Hanzlick and Laimbeer 2 years prior

Wow, Tripuca, Ainge, and Paxzon, Woolridge! Loaded with future NBA greats

Back then March was truly madness

Paxon. Trepuka. Ainge. Somegood players in this game

Paxson, Tripuka, Ainge all quality NBA players later on.

Notre Dame was a lot like DePaul at the time in the tournament tons of talent but couldn't get it done

I was a member of the Cougar pep band, chosen to travel for the tournaament; but in order to go, we had to commit availability for every potential game. I could not, since I was also in Philharmonic Orchestra and we had a concert the night of the Sweet 16. In fact, the game started about an hour before the concert began. We got to our intermission, and all over, concert attendees, performers, stage crew, were pulling out transistor radios tuned to the game. We had a 40 minute intermission as BYU pulled out this win. After the concert was over - and dealing with after concert - it was close to 2 hours after that game had ended, and exiting the Fine Arts building, it sounded like I had stepped onto the field of Cougar Stadium during a BYU-Utah football game. The entire upper campus was surrounded by fans still celebrating. I didn't get to bed until 4:00 am. And all this happened about 3 months after the "Miracle Bowl" in San Diegi vs SMU.

Dayum, Ainge handled all 5 yellow clover leafs 😗🍀

Ainge just dribbled coast to coast , behind the back in traffic and took it to the hole with 5 seconds left on national TV in the sweet 16 of the ncaa tourney ! doesn't get much more awesome than that! Prime Time Player! 😎

era long ago. funny how they dribble. ainge would be lucky to score a bucket now

Left handed layup....over the big man..... Woolrich.....

Handles

why is the score so low? and why is there an Amish guy there?

Several nba players in this game ..👍

“What a basketball play!”

That defense makes me want to puke

The clock didn't stop after Ainge made the shot

Still the most beautiful layup I’ve ever seen. How he put just the right touch on that, as he seemed to guess perfectly the wingspan of Orlando Woolridge. I still don’t know how he didn’t block it.

Friggin legend

Wow. So much whiteness!