The Missouri Valley Conference tournament had a solid game as Creighton defeated Wichita State to win their second league title in a row, but all the news after was about student Alex Permann, who hit a half-court shot at halftime, but missed out on a $50,000 prize.
According to Yahoo Sports, Permann, who is a 24-year-old optometry student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was picked at the game to participate in a halftime shooting contest that could net him if he made a lay-up, a free throw a 3-point shot and a half-court shot in 24 seconds, he would win $50,000.
The report says that Permann made the lay-up, shot a free throw and then ran straight to the half court line, skipping the 3-pointer, and hit the long-range shot, jumping for joy after he nailed it, thinking he made the money.
"When I hit that shot. I was thinking about 50 grand. I guess I don't listen too good," Permann said.
Permann tried to fix his mistake as time ran down, but he did not sink the 3-pointer in time to win the money. After missing out on the big prize, MVC officials were able to come to a deal, giving Permann multiple tickets for life to the conference tournament and four VIP passes and a three-day hotel stay in St. Louis for the 2014 event.
"I've got to tell you, I'm just sick," MVC associate commissioner Jack Watkins said of Permann losing his jackpot.
"Either way, it's been awesome. I just can't believe I made it," said Permann, whose main experience with basketball is playing in an intramural league once a week. He'll have the memory, anyway. Just not $50,000."
The MVC has been holding the contest at the tournament every year since 2004 and so far no fan has won the big prize.
Creighton won the game and added another school to the list of teams in the NCAA tournament with automatic bids, including Florida Gulf Coast, Belmont, Harvard and Liberty. The Bluejays improved to 27-7 and although they lost, Wichita State will likely get an at-large bid to the tournament.
Tournament MVP Doug McDermott was able to overcome missing six of his first seven shots and had 14 points after going 5-for-14 from the field.
