The biggest shot of Steph Curry’s college career came vs. Gonzaga

Of all the jaw-dropping 3-pointers Curry has delivered over the years, his clutch triple against the Zags stands out in his mind

Former Davidson Wildcats guard Stephen Curry (30) said his late 3-pointer during the Wildcats 82-76 victory against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was the biggest shot of his career. | Bob Donnan-US Presswire

Who knows how Steph Curry's basketball career would've turned out if he hadn't led Davidson to the Elite Eight round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament?

Curry, who went on to become a four-time NBA champion, two-time league MVP and 11-time all-star, probably would've gone on to become a great player in his own right without the mystique of his sophomore season with the Wildcats. But would he have grown into one of the sport's most influential figures and its greatest 3-point shooter of all time?

Maybe, but probably not without the help of a big-time shot against Gonzaga early on in his college career.

As the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers made, Curry has delivered countless jaw-dropping moments throughout his 16-year tenure with the Golden State Warriors — and in the process, revolutionized the way modern basketball is played at the professional level. But out of all the miraculous half-court heaves and near-impossible shots he's made over the course of his career, the biggest shot of Curry's career — in his own words — is from that first-round matchup against Mark Few and the Zags in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

“From my perspective, it was the shot against Gonzaga when I was at Davidson,” Curry said during an interview with Complex. “Everyone has those moments where, if things had gone differently, your life could have gone differently. I definitely think it made a big difference, not just in our run because it was the first round, but because the game was tied with less than a minute left."

At the time, Curry wasn't on everyone's radar like he is now whenever he steps on the floor of an NBA game. He was mostly known as the son of a former pro, Dell Curry, and had a flashy game to make up for his lack of size. Even while scoring 25.9 points per game, Curry's notoriety wouldn't take off drastically until his masterclass against the Zags.

Feb 14, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Team Curry legend Dell Curry (left) and Team Curry guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (30, right) celebrate during the 2015 NBA All Star Shooting Stars competition at Barclays Center. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Curry led 10-seeded Davidson past 7-seeded Gonzaga, 82-76, while dropping a game-high 40 points on 8-of-10 from downtown, including a clutch triple with 1:04 remaining in the second half to break a 74-74 tie with the Bulldogs and get the Wildcats across the finish line.

"Andrew Lovedale, my center at Davidson, was able to grab a huge offensive rebound, and the rest was like in slow motion," Curry recalled. "And it was like slow motion — like he got the rebound, pawed it with one hand, threw it to me. I made it. We go up three. You're like, 'oh, Davidson, we were about to win a tournament game.'"

"That just started a snowball of what that tournament run is. And then your stardom kind of goes up a little bit, and you kind of carry that confidence. And not to say, I wouldn't be able to figure it out had we lost that game, but that was a big moment that, had that shot not gone down, like, who knows how it would've played out."

Curry played one more season in college before blossoming into one of the game's most iconic players, influencing an entire generation of hoopers and rewriting record books along the way with his insane precision from downtown.

In addition to winning four titles and back-to-back MVP awards, Curry also has a gold medal from his role in Team USA's first-place finish at the Olympic Games last summer, in which Curry drained a huge 3-pointer in the finale against France to help the Americans clinch their 17th gold medal in men's basketball.

Luckily for Gonzaga's head coach, he was on the winning side of that 3-pointer from Curry.

A BONUS PHOTO GONZAGA FANS WILL APPRECIATE: STEPH, RONNY AND SAINT MARY'S

Steph Curry (left) and former Gonzaga star Ronny Turiaf (right) taking in a game at Saint Mary’s. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images