The world is good for Spero Dedes right now.

Here's how Dedes, the Lakers radio play-by-play man, called the last seconds of the Racers' upset of Vanderbilt from San Jose on Thursday:

"[Jeffrey] McClain inbounding the ball, right corner to [Isaac] Miles. Finding space, there's [Danero] Thomas … one second … got it. At the buzzer. And 13th-seeded Murray State has pulled off the opening-round shocker."

And then Dedes was quiet. He and analyst partner Bob Wenzel let the celebration happen. Kind of perfect.

Little things mark a smart announcer. When Dedes told us there was one second left as Thomas took his shot? That was the right touch. Viewers didn't have to try to figure out whether the shot would count.

"This experience has been everything I anticipated," Dedes said. "To have Murray State win as my first-ever tournament game, it was downright surreal."

If it seems a little weird that he would take a few days off from covering the Lakers, Dedes is quick to make sure we all know what comes first.

"I wouldn't be here if the Lakers weren't completely supportive and behind things," he said. "That's my top priority — the Lakers — and I would never jeopardize that," Dedes said, adding that Tim Harris, the Lakers' senior vice president of business operations and Jeanie Buss, "have been so encouraging and positive. I'm here with their blessing … but, still, I'm not comfortable missing Lakers games."

Dedes said that from Sunday until Thursday morning, he's been all about the research. "It was seven to eight hours a day of studying," he said. "Ian Eagle, a mentor of mine for a long time and a veteran of CBS' coverage, really walked me through how to prepare, breaking things down in sections."

John Ireland, who filled in for Dedes on Wednesday's Lakers game (Bill MacDonald will do the next one), said he is a big admirer of Dedes' skills.

"He's incredibly well-prepared," Ireland said. "He's one of those guys who won't get outworked and he's one of those guys, he never gets too high or too low. For a young guy he's incredibly well-polished."

And he got some wide distribution Thursday. The end of the Murray State game and the last few seconds of Washington's upset over Marquette win were broadcast everywhere.