March is full of Madness and it's officially here. No. 15 seed Oral Roberts played the role of March Madness bracket buster on Friday as the Golden Eagles took down No. 2 seed Ohio State.
Oral Roberts' Max Abmas played the game of his career, going for 29 points on 10-24 shooting and 5-10 from 3. Ohio State struggled to get anyone involved outside of EJ Liddell and Duane Washington Jr.
Oral Roberts shot 12 more 3s than Ohio State and that space allowed for the Golden Eagles to dismantle Ohio State's defense. Neither team was particularly efficient, but the Eagles were able to overcome their poor field goal percentage and pull-out the impressive victory over a 2 seed.
Oral Roberts is only the ninth 15th seed to ever win in the first round. The previous eight teams were Richmond in 1991 over Syracuse, Santa Clara over Arizona in 1993, Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997, Hampton over Iowa State in 2001, Lehigh over Duke in 2012, Norfolk State over Missouri in 2012, Florida Gulf Coast over Georgetown in 2013, and Middle Tennessee over Michigan State in 2016. Of those various No. 15 seeds, only Florida Gulf Coast was able to win its next game and reach the Sweet 16. FGCU beat San Diego State, a 7 seed, to make the Sweet 16 in 2013. The Gulf Coast magic carpet ride ended in the Sweet 16 against Florida.
Speaking of the Gators, Oral Roberts will play a good Florida team in the next round. NBA draft fans will be excited to watch Tre Mann go against Max Abmas, who could both be high picks in the upcoming draft. Max Abmas will need to be stellar once again to beat a talented Florida team and be the Cinderella of the tournament.
A sweet 16 run is in reach for Oral Roberts at the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Ohio State joined Michigan State as a Big Ten team which lost in a Big Ten venue, Purdue's Mackey Arena, in the first days of this Big Dance.
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