This Photo of Vanderbilt’s Missed Buzzer Beater Physically Hurts to Look At

There are few sports moments more thrilling than a basketball buzzer beater, especially during the NCAA tournament. But, in that same vein, there are few sports moments more heartbreaking than a last-second, Hail Mary heave that almost goes in ... but doesn’t quite get the job done.

Vanderbilt found itself in such a nightmare scenario on Saturday night, when the No. 5 Commodores lost to the No. 4 Cornhuskers in genuinely the most devastating fashion.

The gut-wrenching finish began when Nebraska’s Braden Frager hit a layup with 2.2 seconds left to edge Vandy out for the lead. So, already things weren't going great.

But then, as time ran out, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner tossed up a half-court shot to try and win it at the buzzer. And truthfully, the shot was beautiful—it hit off the glass, banked down toward the net and then ... rimmed out, to the pure devastation of the Vanderbilt players watching on and the pure shock of the announcers calling the game.

It was devastation, then hope, then devastation again in a matter of seconds.

OH MY GOODNESS THAT ALMOST WENT IN! 🤯

NEBRASKA HOLDS ON 😱#MarchMadness @HuskerMBB pic.twitter.com/C8h63pSGLY
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026

But, if that video wasn’t already terrible enough, this freeze-frame of the moment the ball went in will have you genuinely punching the air.

Wow. 😱#MarchMadness https://t.co/wkNwZY4kCT pic.twitter.com/wQricCOopc
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026

“It hurts pretty bad. Being that close, especially,” Tanner told reporters after the fact. “Hard-fought game. It was electric the whole time through. Big crowd presence. It hurts that the season’s over.”

The Commodores guard added that he genuinely believed he made that shot.

Interestingly enough, Tanner experienced something similar earlier this season, when he tried for a buzzer beater vs. Mizzou. It was the same situation: clock dwindling, Tanner gets the ball at half court, tosses it up and ... the ball hits the rim and bounces off.

Just tough to see. Heart goes out to those guys.

But congratulations are nonetheless in order for the Cornhuskers, who are now on to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Indeed, they deserve their flowers, too—so long as they can lock back in for their Sweet 16 game coming up.

“We’re flying back home at 11 o’clock tomorrow,” said coach Fred Hoiberg, per ESPN. “We’ll get back. We’ll regroup. We'll find out who we’re going to play after the game tomorrow—if I’m not mistaken, Iowa and Florida—and then start working right away, get the game plan put together. Don’t know if we play Thursday or Friday. And then we’ll just take it from there.”