Watson, however, turned out to be the best of all South Dakota State options. Because he was, the Sioux painfully now are out of options in their bid to make the NCAA Division II postseason playoffs.
Watson's 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave SDSU a 77-75 North Central Conference men's basketball win over UND before 4,017 Hyslop Sports Center fans on Saturday night, the third crushing league home loss for the Sioux this season.
This one hurt the most. For all practical purposes, UND (10-6 NCC, 16-9 overall) took itself out of the playoff picture, though the Sioux had won five of their last six before taking on the Jackrabbits.
"The playoffs are a long shot at best, and that's if we win our last two games," UND coach Rich Glas said.
Watson was not SDSU's top choice on the Jackrabbits' last play. In the SDSU huddle, coach Scott Nagy called Michael Torrance's number. Watson, however, received the inbounds pass from Brian Norberg near the half-court stripe and took his game-winning shot from the left wing.
"Coach said if Mike (Torrence) was double-teamed that I was to come back and get the ball," Watson said. "Once I got it, I knew I was going to go one-on-one. (Marcus) Travis was guarding me. I shook him and pulled up for the shot. When it left my hand, it felt good."
And the Sioux felt bad. UND lost four of its nine NCC home games, three by a combined seven points.
"It's like someone punched you in the stomach," said UND's Brady Larson, whose play fueled a late Sioux rally. "But you have to give South Dakota Sate credit. They came in here and played well after losing a tough game."
SDSU's loss at North Dakota State on Friday night ended any hopes of another postseason playoff appearance by the Jackrabbits (8-8, 16-9). "We just wanted to finish strong," Watson said.
But the Sioux almost pulled off the win despite trailing 74-64 with four minutes left.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Berg and Larson, plus an inside Chad Mustard basket, cut SDSU's lead to 74-72 with 1:49 left. A free throw by James Banks with 1:38 remaining gave the Jacks a 75-72 lead. Larson, however, buried another 3-pointer, tying the game at 75-75 with 1:10 left.
The Jacks missed on their next possession and UND, which sputtered offensively for most of the game, had the ball and a chance to win with 39 seconds left. And the ball was in the hands of Berg, one of UND's two premier players. Berg, however, couldn't convert on his drive to the basket with 6.1 seconds to go.
The Jacks snared the rebound and called time to set up their play.
"I thought about passing," Berg said of his final shot. "And I didn't get the shot all the way up there."
Berg's missed shot wasn't the reason why the Sioux lost. Mostly to blame was their slow start. UND shot 33 percent in the first half and never could mount any serious runs, expect for its spurt in the final four minutes.
"We didn't have the usual bounce in our step," Glas said. "We came back at the end, but we didn't play well enough over the course of the game to win. We were a step slow mentally."
One player who didn't run out of gas was SDSU reserve James Banks, who led the Jacks with 20 points -- 12 more than his season average. SDSU's effective screening game helped Banks and the Jacks get a handful of wide-open shots under the basket.
Berg's 18 led the Sioux, while Mustard (14), Larson (12), Hunter Reinke (10) and Kyle Behrens (10) also were in double figures.
The stunning win took some of the sting out of SDSU's disappointing season. The Jacks were picked to win their fourth NCC title at the start of the season.
"The season has been a big disappointment, no question about it," Nagy said. "But we're the three-time defending (NCC) champion. I told our players to play like it."
| UND (75) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Mustard | 5-12 | 4-4 | 14 |
| Travis | 3-7 | 1-1 | 7 |
| Behrens | 4-10 | 2-4 | 10 |
| Berg | 4-15 | 7-8 | 18 |
| Jacobson | 2-3 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Larson | 4-6 | 0-0 | 12 |
| Ristvedt | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Reinke | 3-5 | 4-7 | 10 |
| Totals | 25-59 | 18-24 | 75 |
| South Dakota St. (77) | |||
| Volmer | 2-5 | 3-4 | 7 |
| Fischer | 6-12 | 6-6 | 18 |
| Watson | 5-9 | 2-2 | 12 |
| Johnson | 3-5 | 0-0 | 7 |
| Walker | 2-5 | 2-4 | 6 |
| Banks | 9-15 | 2-4 | 20 |
| Norberg | 2-6 | 0-0 | 5 |
| Totals | 30-64 | 15-20 | 77 |