PITTSBURGH– For the second time in three years and the seventh time overall, Pittsburgh is the host city for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, universally known as ‘March Madness.’
Four games grazed the hardwood at PPG Paints Arena in the first of two days of tournament action throughout the day, including three games in which a double-digit seed won.
#3 Creighton, #11 Oregon, #14 Oakland, and #11 NC State were all victors on Thursday’s slate of games
In the afternoon’s first game, Creighton secured a 77-60 victory over 14th-seeded Akron. Creighton’s sharpshooters shot 57% from beyond the arc.
It was Akron graduate senior Enrique Freeman’s final collegiate game, playing all five years as a Zip. He had 21 points and 14 rebounds and tied an NCAA record for most double-doubles in a single season, accompanying him with David Robinson in 1986 and Armando Bacot in 2022.
“The accolades feel nice,” Freeman said. “But I’m just in real good gratitude for how this team worked very hard throughout the entire season, throughout my entire time here. I think we did something very special in Akron. I’m glad we were able to put on for the city.”
Creighton’s big three, Trey Alexander, Baylor Scheirman, and Ryan Kalkbrenner, led the Bluejays, combining for 57 points. Scheirman also grabbed 13 rebounds in the win.
“They’ve really improved,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said, “Trey’s ability to be a playmaker and scorer and defensively, he does a lot for us. Baylor is one of the best rebounding guards in the country. [Kaulkbrenner] is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East. You have to go to guys like Ewing and Mourning to find people that have done that. They’ve just been awesome to coach, and there’s a lot of joy in what we’re doing, and a lot of it has to do with how they lead our team.”
The 11th-seeded Oregon Ducks pulled off a major upset, dominating the 6th-seeded South Carolina with an 87-73 victory. Led by former Gamecock Jermaine Couisnard’s career-high 40 points.
“I heard somebody say something on the court to me. That’s what got me going,” Couisnard said. “I’m a competitor, and that’s like a guy that I kind of mentored when I was there. So once he hit a three, he got to talking. But it was fun, man. Those guys made me. I grew a lot. I learned a lot when I was there. So, I appreciate those guys more than anything.”
With the win, Dana Altman is still undefeated in the first round at 8-0 as an average seed lower than seven.
However, the biggest shock came when 14th-seeded Oakland stunned the basketball world by defeating 3rd-seeded Kentucky 80-76. Oakland’s Jack Gohlke made history with his unprecedented three-point shooting performance. He hit seven three-pointers in the first half, already breaking PPG Paints Arena, which was six. He ended up shooting 10-20 from three-point land, just one away from the NCAA Tournament record.
“Obviously, if I make that many shots in the first two-thirds of the game or whatever it is, they’re going to start guarding me differently,” Gohlke said. “I probably forced one or two that I shouldn’t have taken. But I was trying to calm down and let my teammates carry me from that point. They’re going to force two guys to me and pay a ton of attention, and at that point, if we’re playing four on three. If that’s the case, I know we will win for a fact. So I’m going to let them do that all game long. ”
Wrapping up the day, 11th-seeded NC State continued its Cinderella run with an 80-67 triumph over 6th-seeded Texas Tech. With DJ Burns leading the charge, NC State added another chapter to its underdog story, as it won five games in five days just a week ago.
Burns got the arena fired up every time he touched the ball and exploded after every bucket.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” Burns said. “Whether they’re cheering or not, my mindset is going to find a good shot and get my teammates involved in a way that can win games, and it’s nice to know they trust in me and believe this everything we’re trying to do here and it just happened to be me tonight.”
Pittsburgh will host Second Round action on Saturday with two games: Oakland will face NC State at 7:10 p.m. Creighton will face Oregon at 9:40 p.m.
