On Thursday, No. 14 Oakland defeated No. 3 Kentucky 80-76, pulling off the biggest upset to date in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
With eight minutes remaining, the Golden Grizzlies led by seven points, their largest lead of the night.
However, the Wildcats were quickly able to cut it to two points. After a foul on a 3-point shot, red hot Jack Goelke (more on him later) knocked down 2 of 3 from the free throw line to put Oakland up by 6 points with less than 3 1/2 minutes left. Raised.
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Jack Goelke of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies reacts after hitting a 3-point shot against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half of the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on March 21, 2024. did. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Kentucky had a chance to take the lead with less than 90 seconds left, but the Wildcats came back and hit two free throws after being fouled by a DQ call to put Oakland University back up to four points.
Rob Dillingham hit a wild 3 for the Wildcats, but Cole responded with an equally crazy corner 3 of his own to put the Grizzlies up 78-74 with 37 seconds left.
Kentucky’s Reid Shepard missed three and it was a cold night, but Oakland’s Trey Townsend made one of two free throws for a five-point lead. Kentucky made a layup to take a three-point lead with 3.9 ticks left, but after a necessary foul, Townsend went 1-for-2 from the line again and the game was all but frozen.
The name of the game is 3-point shooting. Oakland went 15-for-31 while Kentucky went just 9-for-27. Oakland missed 6 of his first nine from the free throw line and was pathetic. Oakland made 10 of its final 14 shots, while Kentucky made 15 of 20 from the stripe.
Jack Gaelke of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies after making a 3-point shot against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half of the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on March 21, 2024. I reacted. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
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But most of Oakland’s 3-pointers came from Goelke, a transfer from Division II. He started on the bench and had 10 hits in 20 at bats, dropping 32 points. He became the fifth player in tournament history to hit at least 10 3-pointers.
In the regular season, he made 324 3-point attempts and only eight from inside the perimeter.
On paper it might be an upset, but Coach Goelke seemed confident in his team after the game.
He answered candidly in the post-match interview.
“We’re not Cinderella,” he said.
Jack Goelke of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies celebrates after making a 3-point shot against the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half of the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on March 21, 2024. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
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The loss marks Kentucky’s second first-round loss in the last three years as a top-three seed. The Wildcats also lost to No. 15 St. Peter’s in 2022 as a second seed.
Oakland will play the winner of No. 6 Texas Tech and No. 11 North Carolina State on Saturday.
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