Max Abmas of Oral Roberts drives against Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell, center, and Duane Washington Jr. during their first-round NCAA Tournament game Friday in West Lafayette, Ind. Oral Roberts, the No. 15 seed in the South Region, advanced with a 75-72 overtime victory over the No. 2 Buckeyes. Robert Franklin/Associated Press
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Oral Roberts welcomed the madness back to March.
The 15th-seeded Golden Eagles pulled off the first major upset of the first NCAA Tournament, holding off second-seeded Big Ten power Ohio State 75-72 in overtime on Friday.
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.
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 seventh-seeded Florida in the second round of the South Region on Sunday.
E.J. Liddell scored 23 points to lead the Buckeyes (21-10). Washington scored 18 points but made just 7 of 21 shots.
(1) BAYLOR 79, (16) HARTFORD 55: MaCio Teague scored 22 point and the top-seeded Bears (23-2) shook off a slow-as-molasses start, rolling past No. 16 Hartford (15-9) in Indianapolis.
In front of a crowd of around 6,000 filling the south end of the home of the Indianapolis Colts, Hartford looked like it belonged for a solid stretch to start the game. The Hawks contained Baylor’s nation-leading 3-point shooters over the first 12 minutes, grabbed most of the 50-50 balls and even celebrated a power dunk from 6-foot-9 Hunter Marks to start a mini 4-0 run that gave them a one-point lead at the 8-minute timeout.
But then Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had two slams sandwiched around a 3 from Adam Flagler to give Baylor a six-point lead. Baylor ran away from there, building the advantage to 29 over a routine second half.
(3) ARKANSAS 85, (14) COLGATE 68: Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and 10th-ranked Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament with an 85-68 win in Indianapolis.
The 14th-seeded Raiders (14-2) had upset pickers out of their seats early in the South Region opener with a slew of 3-pointers and a 16-2 run to go up by 14. But Arkansas (23-6), the No. 3 seed, restored some bracket order with a 19-0 run spanning halftime and scored 10 straight points late to pull away.
(13) NORTH TEXAS 78, (4) PURDUE 69: Javion Hamlet scored 24 points and Thomas Bell had 16, along with some game-changing defense in overtime, to lift the 13th-seeded Mean Green (18-9) to an upset win over No. 4 Purdue (17-10) in Indianapolis.
(5) VILLANOVA 73, (12) WINTHROP 63: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and the fifth-seeded Wildcats (17-6) pulled away in the second half for a victory over 12th-seeded Winthrop (23-2) in Indianapolis.
(6) TEXAS TECH 65, (11) UTAH STATE 53: Mac McClung scored 16 points and Kyler Edwards added 12 to help sixth-seeded Texas Tech (18-10) pull away from 11th-seeded Utah State (20-9) in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Red Raiders, who lost to Virginia in the 2019 national championship game, can reach their third consecutive Sweet 16 with a win over third-seeded Arkansas on Sunday.
(7) FLORIDA 75, (10) VIRGINIA 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 the seventh-seeded Gators (15-9) held off the 10th-seeded Hokies (15-7) in Indianapolis.
Castleton, a transfer from Michigan, was dominant on the inside, and Mann showed up with a pair of key 3-pointers late to send the Gators into the second round against Oral Roberts.
(9) WISCONSIN 85, (8) NORTH CAROLINA 62: UNC Coach Roy Williams lost his first opening-round NCAA Tournament game in 30 tries as ninth-seeded Wisconsin (18-12) blew out his eighth-seeded Tar Heels (18-11) 9i West Lafayette, Indiana.
Brad Davison scored 29 points for the Badgers, who negated North Carolina’s size advantage by draining 13 of 27 3-pointers.
MIDWEST REGION
(1) ILLINOIS 78, (16) DREXEL 49: Kofi Cockburn muscled his way to 18 points and Illinois (23-6) cruised past 16th-seeded Drexel (12-8) in the Illini’s first NCAA Tournament game as a No. 1 seed in 16 years.
Drexel never really had chance at containing the 7-foot, 285-pound Cockburn, who was 8 of 11 from the field.
(2) HOUSTON 87, (15) CLEVELAND STATE 56: Quentin Grimes scored 18 points as the second-seeded Cougars (25-3) routed 15th-seeded Cleveland State (19-9) in Bloomington, Indiana.
(3) WEST VIRGINIA 69, (14) MOREHEAD STATE 60: Miles McBride scored 18 of his 30 points after halftime to help West Virginia (19-9) pull away and beat Morehead State (23-8) in Indianapolis, giving Coach Bob Huggins his 900th career victory.
(4) OKLAHOMA STATE 69, (13) LIBERTY 60: Cade Cunningham scored 15 points, including nine straight in the final minutes, and No. 4 seed Oklahoma State (21-8) beat No. 13 Liberty (23-6) in Indianapolis to earn its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009.
(12) OREGON STATE 70, (5) TENNESSEE 56: Roman Silva scored 16 points and the 12th-seeded Beavers (18-12) took advantage of Tennessee’s icy perimeter shooting to beat the fifth-seeded Vols (18-9) in Indianapolis.
The 7-foot-1 Silva bulled his way through the Vols for an 8-for-8 night, and Oregon State hit seven 3s in the second half to get its first NCAA Tournament victory since reaching the 1982 Elite Eight.
(11) SYRACUSE 78, (6) SAN DIEGO STATE 62: No. 11 seed Syracuse (17-9) held sixth-seeded San Diego State (23-5) without a field goal for nearly a quarter of the game, sweet-shooting Buddy Boeheim hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, and the Orange cruised to a victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
(10) RUTGERS 60, (7) CLEMSON 56: Geo Baker scored 13 points, including the decisive layup with 10 seconds left, and the 10th-seeded Scarlet Knights (16-11) toppled No. 7 seed Clemson (16-8) in Indianapolis.
Rutgers was last selected for the NCAAs in 1991, and its last victory in the tournament was in 1983.
(8) LOYOLA CHICAGO 71, (9) GEORGIA TECH 60: Lucas Williamson scored 21 points in a dynamic performance by the defensive whiz, All-America forward Cameron Krutwig added 10 points, and eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago (25-4) beat No. 9 Georgia Tech (17-9) in Indianapolis.
After trailing 43-40 midway through the second half, Loyola heated up from beyond the arc and clamped down on defense, forcing Georgia Tech into a series of missed shots and ugly turnovers during the final five minutes.
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