Buckeyes stunned by Oral Roberts
Florida tops Va. Tech
Oral Roberts welcomed the madness back to March.
The 15th-seeded Golden Eagles pulled off the first major upset of the first NCAA Tournament in two years, holding off secondseeded Big Ten power Ohio State 75-72 in overtime on Friday.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oral Roberts got poised, impeccable performances from its two star players, guard Max Abmas and forward Kevin Obanor, to become the ninth 15 seed to win a first-round game and the first since Middle Tennessee shocked Michigan State in 2016. Last year’s tournament was called off because of the pandemic.
Obanor scored seven of Oral Roberts’ 11 points in overtime, including two free throws with 13 seconds left, and finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer, had 29 points.
Ohio State could have tied it in the closing seconds of overtime, but Duane Washington Jr.’s open 3-pointer from straight away bounced off the side of the rim, and Oral Roberts celebrated its first tournament win since 1974.
The Golden Eagles (17-10) advanced to play seventhseeded Florida in the South Region on Sunday.
E.J. Liddell scored 23 points to lead the Buckeyes (21-10). Florida 75, Virgina Tech 70 —
Colin Castleton scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tre Mann hit a step-back 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in overtime and seventh-seeded Florida held off No. 10 seed Virginia Tech.
Castleton was dominant on the inside and Mann showed up with a pair of key 3-pointers late for the Gators (15-9).
Mann hit a 3 with 2:49 left in regulation, a shot that became huge as Virginia Tech rallied in the closing seconds and forced overtime on Nahiem Alleyne’s 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left. Mann’s second big 3-pointer gave the Gators a 74-70 lead and proved enough after Cordell Pemsel’s missed jumper with 10 seconds left.
Baylor 79, Hartford 55 — MaCio Teague scored 22 points and top-seeded Baylor shook off a slow-as-molasses start to roll past 16thseeded Hartford.
Baylor opened its March Madness run at the same stadium the Final Four will take place in during the first week of April. The Bears (23-2) will next face either North Carolina or Wisconsin.
Austin Williams scored 19 points to lead the Hawks (15-9).
Arkansas 85, Colgate 68 — Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate.
The 14th-seeded Raiders (14-2) had upset pickers out of their seats early with a slew of 3-pointers and a 16-2 run to go up by 14. The No. 3 Razorbacks (23-6) restored some bracket order with a 19-0 run spanning halftime and scored 10 straight points late to pull away. Arkansas advanced to face sixth-seeded Texas Tech in the second round.
Nelly Cummings led Colgate with 14 points. Texas Tech 65, Utah St. 53 —
Mac McClung scored 16 points in his first NCAA Tournament game and Kyler Edwards added 12 to help sixth-seeded Texas Tech pull away from 11thseeded Utah State.
The Red Raiders (18-10) snapped a two-game losing streak and made new memories in the tournament after their most recent appearance, a loss to Virginia in the 2019 national championship game.
Neemias Queta had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, and tied Utah State’s single-game school record with seven blocks.
Illinois 78, Drexel 49 — Kofi Cockburn muscled his way to 18 points and Illinois cruised past 16th-seeded Drexel in the Illini’s first game as a No. 1 seed in 16 years.
Illinois (23-6) will face eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago in the second round of the Midwest Region on Sunday.
Drexel (12-8) never really had chance at containing the 7-foot, 285-pound Cockburn, who was 8 for 11 from the field.
All-American Ayo Dosunmu finished with 17 points for Illinois.
Loyola Chicago 71, Georgia Tech 60 — Lucas Williamson scored 21 points in a dynamic performance by the defensive whiz, All-America forward Cameron Krutwig added 10, and eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago beat No. 9 seed Georgia Tech.
The surprise national semifinalist in 2018, the Ramblers (25-4) were relegated to the NIT the following year and missed out on the tournament — along with everyone else — when it was canceled due to COVID-19 last season.
After trailing 43-40 midway through the second half, Loyola heated up from beyond the arc and clamped down on defense, forcing Georgia Tech (17-9) into a series of missed shots and ugly turnovers during the decisive final five minutes.
Oregon St. 70, Tennessee 56 — Roman Silva scored 16 points and 12th-seeded Oregon State took advantage of Tennessee’s icy perimeter shooting to beat the fifthseeded Vols.
Oregon State (18-12) became the 51st 12 seed to take down a five seed since the NCAA Tournament bracket expanded in 1985.
Oregon State hit seven 3s in the second half to win its first NCAA Tournament game since reaching the 1982 Elite Eight.
Oklahoma State 69, Liberty 60 — Cade Cunningham didn’t have an explosive debut, but did just enough to lead the Cowboys to a victory over Liberty in a Midwest Region first round game.
Cunningham scored 15 points — nine straight in the final minutes — to lead No. 4 seed Oklahoma State to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009. Avery Anderson III led the Cowboys with 21 points.
Houston 87, Cleveland St. 56 — Quentin Grimes scored 18 points and Houston beat 15th-seeded Cleveland State.
No. 2-seed Houston has won eight straight and will face seventh-seeded Clemson or 10th-seeded Rutgers in the Midwest Region’s second round on Sunday.
Tramon Mark added 15 points in place of Jarreau and Marcus Sasser finished with 14 for Houston (25-3).
D’Moi Hodge scored 11 points and Torrey Patton had eight points and eight rebounds for the Vikings (19-9).
North Texas 78, Purdue 69, OT— Javion Hamlet scored 24 points and Thomas Bell had 16, along with some game-changing defense in overtime, to lift 13th-seeded North Texas to a win over No. 4 Purdue.
Bell opened overtime with a 3, then altered two Purdue shots underneath to help the Mean Green (18-9) turn the extra session into a laugher. North Texas scored the first 11 points.
Wisconsin 85, North Carolina 62 — North Carolina coach Roy Williams lost his first opening-round NCAA Tournament game in 30 tries as ninth-seeded Wisconsin blew out his eighth-seeded Tar Heels.
Brad Davison scored 29 points for the Badgers (1812), who negated North Carolina’s size advantage by draining 13 of 27 3-pointers.
D’Mitrik Trice scored 21 points for Wisconsin, which advanced to play Baylor on Sunday.
Armando Bacot scored 15 points for UNC (18-11).