There’s no stopping No. 15 ORU
INDIANAPOLIS — Oral Roberts pulled off yet another upset to become just the second No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the round of 16 with an 81-78 victory over Florida on Sunday night.
Kevin Obanor and Max Abams carried the Golden Eagles out of an 11-point deficit to knock off the Gators. Oral Roberts, which opened the tournament with a stunning upset over No. 2 seed
Ohio State, will try to knock off No. 3 seed Arkansas next weekend.
Obanor scored 28 points and Abmas, the regular-season national leading scorer, finished with 26 as the Golden Eagles (18-10) closed the game on a 2511 run to overcome the 11-point lead Florida held with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Oral Roberts joins Florida Gulf Coast as the only No. 15 seeds to reach the round of 16 in tournament history.
The Oral Roberts fans inside Indiana Famers Coliseum chanted “Cinderella” during a wild celebration after the victory.
BAYLOR 76, WISCONSIN 63
A second COVID-19 pause seemed to make Baylor vulnerable in March, some of the verve drained from a defense that was being compared to the all-time best.
The big, bad ball-hawking Bears are back and again look like a team ready to make a deep run — possibly into the Final Four.
Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and spearheaded a dominant defensive first half, helping top-seeded Baylor avoid another NCAA Tournament upset with a victory over Wisconsin.
VILLANOVA 84, NORTH TEXAS 61
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 18 points, Jermaine Samuels Jr. added 15 and Villanova knocked down 15 3-pointers, emphatically ending 13th-seeded North Texas’ bid for a second upset.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats (186) move on to the Sweet 16 to face top-seeded Baylor. Villanova will play the second weekend of the tournament for the third time in the last five. Coach Jay Wright’s team won the whole thing the last two times it got this far in 2016 and ’18.
North Texas, seeded 13th, stunned Purdue in the first round.
81 78 ARKANSAS 68, TEXAS TECH 66
Justin Smith scored 20 points and played a key role in a final-play defensive stop, helping Arkansas beat Texas Tech, securing the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in a quarter-century.
In the final seconds, Smith found himself defending Kyler Edwards beyond the 3-point arc. Edwards drove into the paint with Smith on his hip and missed a layup, with Arkansas guard JD Notae snagging the rebound and sprinting up court to run the final seconds out.