By Gene Mendez, SI.com

ONE SHINING MOMENT

Chris McNaughton's game-winning shot gave Bucknell its first-ever NCAA tournament victory. AP

It was exactly the kind of moment that has defined the NCAA Tournament: Upset-minded small school from an even smaller conference with a possession to defeat the big, bad boys from the big league. This time it was 14th seeded Bucknell from the Patriot League with the ball in its hands, down 63-62, and a chance to knock off mighty 3rd seed Kansas at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

The plan was to feed 6'11" center Chris McNaughton down low and either shoot the ball or kick the ball out to a sniper if the double team came. It never did. McNaughton received the feed deep in the lane against Kansas's Wayne Simien and banked in a hook shot with eight seconds remaining for a one-point lead.

After the Bison survived a missed jumper from Keith Langford and a Christian Laettner-like potential game-winner by Simien that rimmed in-and-out at the buzzer, Bucknell (23-9), in its 110th season, finally had its first NCAA Tournament victory.

"It came off the backboard and rimmed in somehow," said McNaughton. "I don't care how it went in. It went in."

Despite being plagued by foul trouble, McNaughton, a sophomore from Germany with a 3.7 GPA in engineering, scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

PLAYER WHO IMPRESSED ME

In addition to McNaughton (14 points, six rebounds) and Charles Lee (15 points, eight rebounds), Bucknell would not have been able to storm the court Friday night without the play of Kevin Bettencourt. The junior guard scored a team-high 19 points, but most importantly his threat from three-point range (5-of-15) opened things up inside for McNaughton.

Midway through the second half Kansas went to a 2-3 zone, and Bettencourt cut through the zone and back to his original spot, catching the Jayhawks' defense sleeping, for a wide-open three-pointer that gave the Bison a five-point lead.

With Bettencourt and point guard Abe Badmus (11 assists, zero turnovers), the Bison played the game at their speed.

"Their guards were terrific," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "They played well and certainly controlled the game."

COURTSIDE CONFIDENTIAL

Senior Kansas guard Keith Langford, who was questionable for Friday night because of the flu and an ankle injury, played 26 minutes and scored six points on 1-of-7 shooting. He said his health did not affect his performance. "I could say I was this or I was that, but the bottom line is I played, and that's all that matters," he said... While scouting the Jayhawks, the Bison learned that Kansas did not run that many sets and often relied on beating defenders off the dribble. To offset that, Bucknell coach Pat Flannery stressed defense where defenders stayed in front of offensive players... Flannery also set a goal to not turn the ball over 10 times. The Bison had just nine turnovers after averaging 15.8 turnovers a game during the season... Did you know that, to get from its Lewisburg, Pa., Campus to Oklahoma City, Bucknell took its first charter flight?... Despite the victory, the Bisons received little attention from the media after the game. While there were just three reporters in the winning locker room, the Kansas locker room was packed shoulder-to-shoulder... The Kansas players elected to not attend the postgame media conference.

CHAMPIONSHIP FORMULA

This was no fluke. The Bison have a legitimate Division I center in McNaughton and a shooter with unlimited range in Bettencourt. They're also battle tested after beating Holy Cross in Worcester in the Patriot League final and beating Kansas in a Ford Center that was predominantly Crimson and Blue.

Expect a slugfest in the second round against Wisconsin, another defensive minded club. But if Bucknell plays like it did Friday night, the slipper may be hard to pull off.