The Athletic has live coverage of the second round of 2026 Men’s March Madness.

SAN DIEGO — With 27 years separating St. John’s from its last Sweet 16, it was a player with zero points who drew up the play to ensure the drought wouldn’t extend beyond the final 3.9 seconds still staring back at them on the scoreboard.

The Red Storm have spent years, decades really, at a level below mediocrity; relevant only for their futility. And even if coach Rick Pitino was unwilling to acknowledge it before the game, winning this game was a prerequisite to cementing their comeback.

All that matters in this sport happens in March. He knows that as well as anyone.

So with 3.9 seconds left, the score tied, and a chance to exorcise every demon, Darling told his coach, “Let’s run ‘Power,’” arguing to Pitino that there wasn’t enough time to do anything other than a full head of steam to the basket.

Pitino did a double-take, agreeing with the play, while also impressed with the gall for a scoreless player, mired in an epic shooting slump, to draw up a buzzer-beater for himself.

“And he ran it to perfection,” Pitino said, acting as if there was never any doubt.

“I probably don’t deserve this. I was pretty bad all night long,” Darling said. “The ball left my hands, and I hit the ground, and I didn’t even see the ball go in. I just heard everybody going crazy.”

“I’m just happy to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.”

Even if Darling doesn’t feel deserving of the adulation, it’s a moment richly earned by St. John’s program and its fans. Since 1999, the Johnnies have endured 17 seasons with a losing conference record.

They cycled through six coaches during that time. There was Steve Lavin, the UCLA legend, who failed to become their savior. There was Chris Mullin, the all-time great alum, who saw nothing but failure.

Mike Anderson, Norm Roberts and Kevin Clark — all authoring different versions of the same story. The World’s Most Famous Arena was a ghost town for a team that should have been its collegiate heartbeat.

Pitino came to St. John’s to revive the dormant program, and he’s fulfilled every promise over these three seasons. Understanding the significance of Darling’s shot requires a lesson in everything that came before it. Before Pitino.

“It means a lot to New York, Johnnies Nation,” said St. John’s star Zuby Ejiofor, who started his career at Kansas but very notably won’t end it against them. “They haven’t been here since 1999. I wasn’t born. It means a lot. … This is all about St. John’s.”

This matchup was the marquee game of the second round, one that everyone circled when the brackets were announced. It set up two Hall of Fame coaches and two teams with wildly different paths to the upper echelon of college basketball.

For the Jayhawks, this marks the fourth consecutive season in which they failed to make a second weekend. Still, a better four-year stretch than any St. John’s can boast since the 1980s. Every Red Storm fan would sign up for Kansas’ version of futility.

It was an ugly game, when the points didn’t match the pace. The two teams were racing up and down the court, authoring a game better described as a comedy of errors than a highlight reel. In the first half, Kansas had a 7:50 stretch without making a field goal. It overlapped with a near-six-minute scoring drought for St. John’s.

Kansas consistently sagged off the Red Storm shooters, daring them to shoot. It was a sound idea, after all, given St. John’s offense is centered on getting to the line and dominating around the rim. Pitino said he’s been begging his team to shoot more from the outside, and Kansas left St. John’s no choice. Bryce Hopkins, who had just 25 3-pointers to his ledger over the first 35 games of the season, buried 6 of 9, all in the biggest of moments.

“I feel like I’m a good shooter,” Hopkins said. “Whether they choose to respect me, that’s on them.”

True to form, Pitino was emotionless as the game winner dropped in the hoop. All the players on his bench raced the 20 or so feet to Darling, a celebration that seemingly began simultaneously with the game’s expiration. He didn’t partake with even a smile. He put his head down, grabbed the collar of his jacket and walked to the handshake line.

After all, he’s experienced this all before. It’s a point he made himself after the game.

“I’ve been on winning at the buzzer and losing at the buzzer,” he said. He hasn’t indulged in all the big-picture questions about the significance of this win. That’s for another day, perhaps.

But as Darling was tackled under his basket, the thousands of red-clad fans who flew across the country for a moment decades in the making, there was no doubt left St. John’s was officially, and finally, back.

“This was the final for me, to get St. John’s to the next level,” Pitino said, acknowledging the goal, without ever relenting on a belief that he’s actually done it. “And we’re not done yet. We still have a lot in our tank.”