The pixie dust wore off on Dylan Darling in the final seconds of St. John’s Sweet 16 game Friday against Duke.
The Red Storm trailed the Blue Devils 78-75 with under 10 seconds left at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Darling had the ball in his hands with St. John’s NCAA Tournament survival hanging in the balance.
St. John’s got to the Sweet 16 after Darling scored a game-winning layup to beat the buzzer against Kansas in the second round. There was no repeat on Friday as Darling badly missed his game-tying attempt with seconds left on the clock.
Dylan Darling's shot for the tie is off the mark. pic.twitter.com/rweX7mWMaG
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 28, 2026
Duke held on for an 80-75 win to secure a spot in the Elite 8. All Darling got was the meme treatment for his failed hero shot. Fans online piled on Darling for just barely avoiding an airball on his side-step shot.
Dylan Darling pulls up from way beyond the arc and damn near airballed it.
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) March 28, 2026
Bad decision man… 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/4l9e93cW9X
Dylan darling gonna need witness protection in New York after this lmaoo pic.twitter.com/506cYO7eSm
— John (@iam_johnw) March 28, 2026
DYLAN DARLING FOR THE TIE!!!! pic.twitter.com/h0MsHu3U1P
— College Sports Only (@CSOonX) March 28, 2026
Dylan Darling must have CTE I’m crying why did he think he should shoot that pic.twitter.com/U6C3b2Qwc3
— ssx (@gunthriftstore) March 28, 2026
Darling finished Friday’s contest with 8 points on 3/7 shooting. The Spokane native hit massive shots for St. John’s all season long, which is what earned him a special nickname from Pitino himself. But Darling did not have one more in him to keep his team alive for at least five more minutes.
