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the NCAA tournament have earned a permanent place among the game's lore. Whoever steps up this month will be unafraid of the moment. They'll probably have the ability to create their own shot and have the skills to take advantage of what the defense gives them -- a look at 3-pointer, a mid-range jumper or an open lane to the basket.
• For a handful of current players like Florida State's Michael Snaer, it has become an art.
• He's one of a select group of players who have at least twice hit a shot in the last 8 seconds to force overtime or win a game. While everyone might want to take that shot, there aren't many who have proven more than once they'll deliver in that big moment.
• Snaer has hit six winners, four this year for half his team's Atlantic Coast Conference wins. He knows the ball is coming his way late in a close game -- and he's always ready.
• "You've just got to play basically off instinct," he said. "And the players that are able to do that and just clear their whole thought process ... those are the players that are the great ones that are able to take those shots and make those shots."
• There are plenty of players with high-profile winners in the past two seasons, including Indiana's Christian Watford against Kentucky last year and Butler's Roosevelt Jones against now-No. 1 Gonzaga in January. But research by The Associated Press found there are at least 13 players who have hit those shots more than once in their careers.
• The list includes: FSU's Snaer, Niagara's Juan'ya Green, Nevada's Deonte Burton, Indiana State's Jake Odum, South Dakota State's Chad White, Delaware's Devon Saddler, George Mason's Sherrod Wright, Arizona's Mark Lyons, UCLA's Larry Drew II, Georgia State's Rashaad Anderson, Oral Roberts' Damen Bell-Holter, and the Massachusetts duo of Terrell Vinson and Chaz Williams.
• Lyons and Drew even have last-second winners or OT-forcing shots at more than one school. Lyons did it at Xavier last year, while Drew did it at North Carolina in the 2010 NIT.
• "It takes a lot of confidence," Wildcats coach Sean Miller said. "With that confidence, (it's) the ability to endure criticism because missing a game-winning shot sometimes is the problem of someone willing to take it. It's not that they don't believe in their ability as much as, in my mind, I don't know if they don't feel good about the aftermath if that thing doesn't go in. To me, that overwhelms them."
• At Niagara, coach Joe Mihalich has watched Green grow from a deferential freshman to a fearless sophomore capable of handling those chaotic final moments.

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