With the exception of No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Houston, Sunday was another bad day for the top seeds and big names in the NCAA Tournament. The first No. 1 seed went down as Illinois was stunned by mid-major Loyola Chicago, while No. 15 Oral Roberts made history in knocking off Florida.
The No. 3 seeds split as Arkansas won, but West Virginia lost, and No. 4 Oklahoma State also went down.
Loyola Rambles On
The big news of Sunday was the upset of Illinois, the third-overall seed in the tournament. The high-flying Illini couldn’t solve the Loyola Chicago defense, as their usual playmakers were stymied all game long.
Meanwhile, the Ramblers were poised from the get-go and look every bit as good as the squad coach Porter Moser led to the Final Four in 2018.
Loyola Chicago led by double-digits throughout and won going away, 71-58. The Ramblers limited Illinois to 4-of-14 shooting from three-point range and 45 percent shooting overall.
Most surprisingly, they outrebounded Illinois 30-27 despite the top seed coming into the game among the top five rebounding teams in the nation.
Illinois turned the ball over 17 times, and All-American Ayo Donsumu scored just nine points, while senior Trent Frazier was 1-for-10 from the field.
Loyola Chicago center Cameron Krutwig posted a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double, while both Marquise Kennedy and Lucas Williamson scored 14 points.
In the Sweet 16, the Ramblers will face No. 12 Oregon State, which upset Oklahoma State in the final game of the day.
Oral Roberts Stays Golden
For just the second time ever, a 15 seed is in the Sweet 16 as Oral Roberts held on to beat No. 7 Florida 81-78. The Gators missed a couple of game-tying shots in the final seconds as the Golden Eagles advanced to face No. 3 Arkansas.
Kevin Obanor scored 28 points while Max Abmas added 26 to lead the Golden Eagles from an 11-point deficit in the final 10 minutes of the game. Oral Roberts was outrebounded by 13 but forced 20 turnovers and limited the Gators to just three field goals in the final nine minutes of the game.
Boeheim Carries Orange
Buddy Boeheim did the heavy lifting to get his dad back to the Sweet 16 as No. 11 Syracuse upset No. 3 West Virginia 78-72. Boeheim made six three-pointers and finished with a game-high 25 points to put his dad, Jim, in the Sweet 16 for the 20th time.
Syracuse sprinted out to a double-digit lead as its 2-3 zone gave the Mountaineers fits in the first half. West Virginia rallied to tie the game in the second half, but Boeheim had 22 points after the break.
Syracuse will need to pull off another big upset to keep its season going as it will face No. 2 Houston in the Sweet 16. Houston rallied past No. 10 Rutgers by scoring the final seven points of the game for a 63-60 win.
Oregon State Keeps Run Going
The No. 12 Oregon State Beavers had to win three games in three days to make the NCAA Tournament, and now they are headed to the Sweet 16 thanks to an 80-70 win over No. 4 Oklahoma State. The Beavers have won five in a row, all against tournament teams with Pac-12 tournament wins over UCLA, Oregon and Colorado coming before they beat Tennessee and Oklahoma State this weekend.
Ethan Thompson outdueled Cade Cunningham as he scored 26 points and made 15-of-16 from the free-throw line. Cunningham, a likely top pick in the NBA draft, scored 24 points for the Cowboys but was just 6-of-20 from the floor.
Oregon State outrebounded the Cowboys 55-33 and limited the fourth seed to 27.7 percent shooting. The Beavers will face Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16 next weekend.
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