Third-seeded Kentucky stunned by Oakland
Jack Gohlke made 10 3-pointers and 14th-seeded Oakland delivered the first true shock of this year's March Madness, beating South Region third-seeded Kentucky 8076 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
The Grizzlies (24-11) sent the Wildcats (23-10) to another early March exit behind Gohlke, a graduate transfer who finished with 32 points. Trey Townsend had 17 points for the Horizon League champions. DQ Cole added 12, including a 3 from the corner with 28 seconds left that gave the Grizzlies a four-point lead.
Antonio Reeves led Kentucky with 27 points, but the Wildcats spent most of the night trying — and failing — to chase down Gohlke.
The 6-foot-3 guard who came to the Grizzlies this season after playing for Division II Hillsdale College made 10 of 20 3-point attempts, seven in the first half.
Oakland never trailed over the final 14:32 to give the program its first victory in the round of 64.
The Wildcats came in as 131/2 point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but with a poor recent track record in March under John Calipari. Kentucky hasn't advanced past the tournament's opening weekend since 2019, an uncomfortably long stretch for Calipari and the second-winningest program in NCAA history.
Midwest Region
OREGON 87, SOUTH CAROLINA 73 >>
Jermaine Couisnard scored a career-high 40 points to haunt the sixth-seeded — his former school — while leading the No. 11 seed Ducks.
Couisnard, who spent three years at South Carolina before transferring following the 2022 season, made five 3-pointers and went 14 of 22 from the field to pace Oregon (24-11).
The Ducks improved to 8-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games under coach Dana Altman.
Oregon center N'Faly Dante added 23 points.
South Carolina (26-8) had too many offensive droughts to keep up with the Ducks, who beat topseeded Arizona last week on the way to a surprising Pac-12 Tournament title.
CREIGHTON 77, AKRON 60 >> Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 23 points and Trey Alexander had 19 as the Bluejays defeated the Zips.
Third-seeded Creighton (24-9) got all it could handle in the first half from 14th-seeded Akron (2411), the Mid-American Conference tourney champion.
TEXAS 56, COLORADO ST.44 >> Max Abmas and Dylan Disu each scored 12 points, and the No. 7-seeded Longhorns held the Rams to 11 points in the first half en route to the win.
Colorado State, which held Virginia to 14 first-half points in their First Four game on Tuesday, jumped out to an 8-2 lead before the wheels came off.
The Rams missed 18 of their next 19 shots and scored just three points over the final 151/2 minutes of the first half. Texas (21-12) closed the half on a 25-3 run to take a 2711 lead into the locker room. GONZAGA 86, MCNEESE ST. 65 >> Graham Ike scored 16 points and Anton Watson added 13 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to power the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (26-7) over the No. 12 seed Cowboys (30-4).
Ike made all six of his field goals and all four free throws while grabbing 10 rebounds.
West Region
NORTH CAROLINA 90, WAGNER 62 >> Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the No. 1 seed Tar Heels (28-7) never trailed in beating the 16th-seeded Seahawks (17-16). MICHIGAN ST. 69, MISSISSIPPI ST. 51
>> Tyson Walker scored 19 points and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo picked up his 20th win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as his ninth-seeded Spartans beat the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (21-14).
Michigan State (20-14) improved to 20-6 in March Madness openers under Izzo, who is making his 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
DAYTON 63, NEVADA 60 >> DaRon Holmes II and the seventh-seeded Flyers staged a huge rally, closing with a 24-4 run to erase a 17-point deficit and beat the 10th-seeded Wolf Pack (26-8).
Holmes, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, finished with 18 points, including a three-point play with 2:01 remaining that gave Dayton its first lead since the first half.
Dayton (25-7) trailed 56-39 with 7:36 remaining but responded with a 17-0 run.
Enoch Cheeks' layup with 34 seconds left gave Dayton the lead for good, and he made two free throws for the final margin.
East Region
DUQUESNE 71, BYU 67 >> Dae Dae Grant scored 19 points, including four clinching free throws in the final 10 seconds, and the No. 11 seed Dukes (25-11) kept retiring coach Keith Dambrot working for a little bit longer with a victory against the sixth-seeded Cougars (23-11).
The Atlantic 10 tourney champs celebrated their return to the dance after 47 years with their first win there since 1969.
IOWA ST. 82, SOUTH DAKOTA ST. 65 >> Milan Momcilovic poured in 19 points, Tamin Lipsey had 17 with seven assists, and the No. 2-seeded Cyclones (28-7) beat the 15th-seeded Jackrabbits (22-13)
ILLINOIS 85, MOREHEAD ST. 69 >> Marcus Domask posted the NCAA Tournament's first triple-double since Ja Morant in 2019 and Terrence Shannon scored 26 points, helping the No. 3 seed Fighting Illini defeat the 14th-seeded Eagles (26-9).
Domask had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his first career triple-double.