Chris Murray | USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY Sports

NASHVILLE – The final buzzer sounded and after Nevada coach Eric Musselman hugged one of his assistants and a player, he sprinted across the court and jumped atop the press row table.

Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports

Looking at the gaggle of Wolf Pack fans who came to root on his underdog team, Musselman let out a primal screen and shortly after ripped off his tie and shirt as he climbed into the jubilant crowd.

His team had just pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in college basketball history – statistically the second largest in the NCAA tournament – and Musselman was losing his mind.

Two days prior, seventh-seeded Nevada had dug out of a 14-point second-half hole to defeat No. 10 Texas. But, this comeback was even more improbable and seemingly impossible until the Wolf Pack actually pulled it off. Rallying from down 22 points with a little more than 11 minutes left, Nevada knocked off No. 2 Cincinnati, the sixth-ranked team in the nation, 75-73, on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena.

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The Wolf Pack led for just 9.1 seconds, but that was all that was required for Nevada to move into the Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history. It will play No. 11 Loyola-Chicago on Thursday in Atlanta, an unthinkable four victories away from being college basketball’s national champion.

“It’s just unheard of what’s going on,” an emotional Musselman said after the victory.

Nevada (29-7) dropped into an early 10-0 hole, which grew to an 18-4 disadvantage as Musselman burned two quick timeout to quell Cincinnati’s early avalanche of points. It did little to stem the Bearcats’ momentum. Cincinnati (31-5) took a 44-32 lead into the halftime locker room and was up 65-43 with 11 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. Nevada’s goal at that point? Fight. Don’t worry about the score. Just fight.

“We told them, ‘Guys, we are down 22 on the biggest stage we will ever play on,’” Musselman. “‘You can’t hide. We’ve got to compete. We’ve got to battle.’ And then they started talking in the huddles.”

Among the things discussed was the fact Nevada had three seniors on the team. They didn’t want their careers to end, certainly not in blowout fashion in front of millions of people watching on television.

So, the Wolf Pack chipped away. A Cody Martin layup. A Kendall Stephens three-pointer. A Caleb Martin jumper. Another Stephens 3-pointer. A Cody Martin three-point play. After trailing by 22, the Wolf Pack went on a 16-0 run to slice the deficit to a reasonable amount. But, Cincinnati’s aggressive offensive rebounding kept Nevada from taking the lead. Cody Martin’s layup and ensuing free throw with 3:53 remaining made it a one-possession game – 71-68 – for the first time since the opening minute.

Nevada finally pulled even when Caleb Martin canned a three-pointer with 54.1 seconds left, and after a defensive stop, the Wolf Pack had the ball again. Cody Martin’s pull-up jumper skipped out, but Josh Hall darted in to grab the rebound with 13 seconds left. Instead of throwing the ball out to a teammate or holding for the final shot, Hall lifted a floater from 7 feet away. It hit front rim, bounced against the backboard and slipped through the net with 9.1 seconds left. That proved to be the game-winning shot.

“I saw an opening and saw them going to close out to the shooters because it looked like I was going to pass it out,” Hall said. “I saw an opening and tried to put as much touch on it as possible because of how close I was. We're just speechless right now. We're just really excited to move forward. A lot of people had us losing the Texas game. For us to keep winning, fighting, battling, we can't keep getting down every game, but everybody is so excited and everyone is resilient. We're trying to continue to prove people wrong every game and keep working hard and keep taking it game by game.”

NEVADA TAKES THE LEAD!!!



After being down 22, @NevadaHoops leads for the first time tonight, 75-73 with 9.1 seconds left!!#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/9tZpwASO1y — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 19, 2018

After Nevada got a stop on Cincinnati’s final possession – the Bearcats were unable to get a shot up – the Wolf Pack players and fans exploded with excitement. The largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history was BYU coming from 25 points down to defeat Iona in 2012. The second largest? Nevada’s Music City Miracle on Sunday afternoon, a handful of Wolf Pack players and coaches who have executed the impossible in back-to-back games.

“For to us overcome a lot of people doubting us and then to see us overcome obstacles that we thought were impossible, our team is just resilient and they work hard and they stay focused and we have a lot of chemistry,” Cody Martin said. “We're like brothers, and that's something that nobody can take from us, and it shows in how hard we play, no matter how much we were down. It didn't matter. We held each other's head and instilled confidence in each other throughout the whole game, no matter how much we were down. I'm proud of these guys and wouldn't want to do it with anybody else.”

Martin scored a game-high 25 points to go with seven assists and six rebounds. He made 10-of-20 shots. Hall added 14 points, including his game-winner. Jordan Caroline and Stephens both added 13. Caleb Martin had 10. Playing against the second-best defense in the nation, Nevada shot 49.2 percent from the field, including 6-of-18 from three, and had a season-low two turnovers.

The Wolf Pack's ecstasy was matched only by Cincinnati's agony.

“Honestly, we thought we were still going to win, regardless,” Cincinnati’s Kyle Washington said. “We knew they were going to try to make their run. Who wouldn't try to make their run at the end of the day? So, we were confident we were going to win.”

Until the final seconds. Musselman’s decision to change his defense and use a trapping scheme, which the Wolf Pack had not executed well this season, proved decisive. The move gave Cincinnati’s a “deer in the headlights look,” per Bearcats coach Mick Cronin, and Nevada was able to crank up the tempo against a Cincinnati team that likes to play slowly.

“We wanted them to speed up a little bit and didn’t want them to milk the clock,” Musselman said.

Cincinnati’s offense started to struggle and Nevada rebounded just well enough to give itself a chance late in the game. The Wolf Pack took advantage of that opportunity and now is one of just 16 teams left standing in the nation, an epic comeback nobody will soon forget lodged into their memories, not just today but forever.

“That locker room right now, I've never seen anything like it in my life,” Musselman said. “It's the happiest I've ever seen. It's the happiest I've ever been in my life. I couldn't be more proud of a team. Every single player in there, I mean, this feeling's never going away the rest of any of our lives.”

IMAGES FROM THE SECOND ROUND OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

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Second round of the 2018 NCAA tournament