14th-seeded Oakland shocks No. 3 Kentucky, advancing in NCAA men’s tournament for 1st time ever

Jack Gohlke made 10 3-pointers and 14th-seeded Oakland delivered the first true shock of this year’s March Madness, beating third-seeded Kentucky 80-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

The Grizzlies (24-11) sent the Wildcats (23-10) to another early March exit behind Gohlke, a graduate transfer who finished with 32 points, and some late shot-making by his teammates. 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. Tre Mitchell added 14 and Rob Dillingham scored 10, but the Wildcats and their roster stacked with NBA prospects 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. His only other points came after he was fouled — while attempting a 3.

Gokhle cooled off a bit over the final 20 minutes while often getting picked up at halfcourt, but his teammates helped pick up the slack. 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 13 1/2 point favourites, 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.

Calipari said his job is to take the pressure off his young roster’s shoulders and place them on his. It must have felt awfully heavy at times while Gohlke and the Bulldogs kept pace with the second-highest-scoring team in the country.

Gohlke won the Horizon League’s Sixth Man of the Year award thanks to his outside shooting. All but eight of his 335 field goal attempts during the regular season were 3s, and he now has made an NCAA-leading 131 this season.

Gohlke stuck out his tongue after his fifth 3. When his sixth fell through the net, he turned around and mimicked Michael Jordan’s famous shoulder shrug during the 1992 NBA finals.

Gohlke ended the game with the ball in his hands after one final Kentucky miss as the Grizzlies became the 23rd 14 seed to win a first-round game since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

No. 11 Duquesne upsets No. 6 BYU

Dae Dae Grant scored 19 points, including four clinching free throws in the final 10 seconds, and No. 11 seed Duquesne kept retiring coach Keith Dambrot working for a little bit longer with a 71-67 victory against sixth-seeded BYU in the first round of the NCAA  men’s tournament on Thursday in Omaha.

Jakub Necas added 12 points and Jimmy Clark III had 11 for the Atlantic 10 tourney champs celebrated their return to the dance after 47 years with their first win there since 1969. The Dukes (25-11) will play No. 3 seed Illinois for a spot in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

Clark was fouled at the other end and made two free throws, and when Traore missed a floater for BYU, the Duquesne guard got to the foul line again. He made the first of two foul shots but was able to help tie up a loose ball after missing the second, and on the ensuing play, Clark was able to break down the defense for an easy layup and a 65-60 lead with 26.9 seconds left.

Dallin Hall tried to give the Cougars a chance with four free throws and a deep three-pointer in the final 20 seconds, but Grant — one of the nation’s best foul shooters — was stoic from the free-throw line in sending the Dukes to the next round.

Jaxson Robinson had 25 points for the Cougars, who have lost five straight in the NCAA Tournament, the last four of them to double-digit seeds. Traore and Spencer Johnson added 11 points apiece. Hall finished with 11 points.

Dayton roars back to stun Nevada

DaRon Holmes II scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and No. 7 seed Dayton stormed back for a 63-60 win over No. 10 seed Nevada in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region on Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City.

Dayton (25-7) erased a 17-point deficit in the second half to rally for its first tournament win since the 2014-15 campaign. Koby Brea finished with 15 points on five three-pointers, and Enoch Cheeks chipped in 12 points.

Jarod Lucas scored 17 points to lead Nevada (26-8), who recorded the eighth-most victories in program history but failed to advance out of the first round. Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson finished with 15 points apiece.

Dayton advanced to square off against No. 2 seed Arizona on Saturday.

No. 11 Oregon takes down No. 6 South Carolina

Jermaine Couisnard dropped a career-high 40 points against his former team as No. 11 seed Oregon toppled No. 6 South Carolina 87-73 in first-round NCAA Tournament action on Thursday.

Couisnard spent three seasons with the Gamecocks before transferring to Oregon ahead of the 2022-23 season. He shot 14-of-22 from the floor on Thursday, making 5 of 9 from beyond the arc and adding six assists and four rebounds.

N’Faly Dante provided 23 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals for the Ducks (24-11), who continued their postseason romp after beating three teams in three days to win the Pac-12 tournament and earn an automatic NCAA bid. Oregon will face No. 3 seed Creighton on Saturday.

The Ducks outshot the Gamecocks 59.6 percent to 44.6 percent. Couisnard and Dante helped Oregon rack up 30 points in the paint and 24 on free throws.

Meechie Johnson poured in 24 points, Ta’Lon Cooper had 15 and B.J. Mack scored 13 for South Carolina (26-8), which suffered a field-goal drought of 8:21 at the end of the first half and could not recover.

2nd-half surge sends Illinois past Morehead State

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 26 points, Dain Dainja had 17 of his 21 points after halftime and Marcus Domask notched a triple-double to lift Illinois past Morehead State 85-69 on Thursday in an NCAA Tournament East Region first-round game in Omaha.

Third-seeded Illinois (27-8) pulled away from the No. 14 Eagles behind a 20-3 run midway through the second half to go ahead 68-51. Dainja scored 10 points during the surge and finished 9 for 9 from the floor.

Illinois advanced to face 11th-seeded Duquesne in the second round on Saturday. The Dukes edged No. 6 BYU 71-67 in Thursday’s East Regional opener to secure the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 1969.

Domask solidified his first career triple-double as Illinois extended its lead down the stretch. He finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Creighton’s shooting, balanced attack beats Akron

Ryan Kalkbrenner racked up 23 points and eight rebounds, Baylor Scheierman added 15 points and 13 boards and hot-shooting Creighton took care of Akron 77-60 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The third-seeded Bluejays (24-9) shot 56.5 percent from the floor and a season-high 58.8 percent from three-point range (10 of 17) to advance out of the first round for the fourth straight tournament. They will face No. 11 Oregon in the next round. The Ducks beat Dayton 87-73 in the first round.

All five Creighton starters reached double figures, as Trey Alexander scored 19 points and Mason Miller and Steven Ashworth each supplied 10. Creighton made 7 of 10 from three-point range in the first half alone and won the rebounding battle 38-26.

Enrique Freeman powered No. 14 Akron (24-11) with 21 points and 14 rebounds. It marked Freeman’s 31st double-double, tying David Robinson (Navy) and Armando Bacot (North Carolina) for the single-season record.

Davis leads top seed UNC past Wagner

RJ Davis scored 22 points and Armando Bacot had a double-double in the first half as North Carolina began the NCAA Tournament by whipping Wagner 90-62 in the West Region’s first round Thursday afternoon.

Bacot finished with 20 points and 15 points, Jae’Lyn Withers notched 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Cormac Ryan posted 13 points for the top-seeded Tar Heels, who shot 55 percent from the field.

North Carolina (28-7) meets ninth-seeded Michigan State (20-14), a 69-51 winner against eighth-seeded Mississippi State on Thursday, in the second round Saturday.

Melvin Council Jr. and Julian Brown both had 18 points for No. 16 seed Wagner (17-16), which defeated Howard 71-68 in Tuesday night’s First Four in Dayton, Ohio. Keyontae Lewis added 13 points.

Arizona ends LBSU coach Monson’s tenure

Arizona took control with a 17-2 run over the first four minutes of the second half and cruised to an 85-65 NCAA Tournament first-round win over Long Beach State on Thursday afternoon in Salt Lake City.

The game — the first of the day in the West region — marked the end of No. 15 seed Beach head coach Dan Monson’s tenure after he’d been fired prior to his team winning the Big West conference tournament.

Monson, the subject of one of the top storylines going into the NCAA Tournament, was allowed to continue coaching until Beach’s season ended.

Kylan Boswell led No. 2 seed Arizona (26-8) with 20 points and Caleb Love added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Oumar Ballo had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Wildcats.