Through the first two rounds of the tournament, all No. 1 and No. 2 seeds reached the Sweet 16. Despite the heavy favorites surviving, brackets were busted, and legends were made.
Round one was highlighted by upsets over three-seeded University of Kentucky, four-seeded Auburn University and five-seeded University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Oakland University served up the first shocker of March with an 80-76 victory over Kentucky. Graduate student Jack Gohlke led the Golden Grizzlies, going 10-20 from beyond the arch. Gohlke tallied 30 points in the win and became the fifth-ever player to make 10 or more three-pointers in a tournament game.
“Gohlke was making ridiculous shots,” said Colby Lau, a senior marketing major. “He was pulling threes like it was a high school team sports class.”
Down seven points at halftime, the Yale University Bulldogs put together an incredibly strong second half to nab a 78-76 victory over the Southeastern Conference champion Auburn Tigers. Junior guard John Poulakidas played a huge role in the upset, scoring 28 points for the Bulldogs.
James Madison University played a strong first half and outlasted Wisconsin to pull off their first-round upset. The Dukes put together a great display of teamwork, with four players tallying 10 or more points in the game.
The second round largely consisted of blowouts and tight overtime finishes.
NC State downed the first round’s Cinderella, Oakland, in overtime, Houston University avoided an upset at the hands of Texas A&M University in overtime and Creighton University outlasted the University of Oregon in double overtime.
Standing at 6’9” and weighing 275 pounds, North Carolina State University’s D.J. Burns is perhaps the most fun player to watch in the tournament. The game was a battle of Gohlke’s superior perimeter shooting and Burns’s dominant play down low. Gohlke tallied six threes, while Burns scored 24 points in the 79-74 Wolfpack win.
“Burns is a force to be reckoned with,” said Ryan Collins, a junior mass communication major. “He proved it in the ACC conference tournament, and largely because of him, NC State is an extremely good 11-seed.”
Texas A&M made an inspiring second-half comeback with an incredible three-point shot at the buzzer to take the Houston Cougars to overtime. Houston was propelled to a 100-95 victory over the Aggies behind a 30-point performance from sophomore guard Emmanuel Sharp.
In possibly the game of the tournament so far, three-seeded Creighton survived a scare from the 11-seeded Oregon Ducks 86-73 after a dominant 15-2 run in double overtime. Redshirt senior Jermaine Couisnard had an incredible tournament, scoring 40 points in the Ducks’ first-round 87-73 win over the University of South Carolina and 32 in the loss to Creighton.
“Up until double overtime, I thought Oregon was going to pull it off,” said Kara Dial, a junior nursing major.
Creighton was lifted to victory by a grueling team effort. Senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner, junior guard Trey Alexander, senior guard Baylor Scheierman and senior guard Steven Ashworth were all on the court for over 40 minutes, combining for 78 points.
