AJ Mast / Associated Press
Cinderella is still dancing.
After stunned second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the 2021 Men’s NCAA Tournament, 15th-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles overcame a two-figure deficit and defeated seventh-seeded Florida Gators 81-78 in Sunday’s second round shocked. collision at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.
Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor led the way for the winners, who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1973-74 season.
A solid performance by Tre Mann was not enough for the Gators, who have not advanced to the second round since 2017.
Remarkable player statistics
- Kevin Obanor, F, OF: 28 PTS, 11 REB, 4 STL
- Max Abmas, G, OF: 26 PTS, 7 AST, 2 STL, 2 REB
- Tre Mann, G, FL: 19 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST
- Noah Locke, G, FL: 17 PTS, 4 REB
- Colin Castleton, F, FL: 14 PTS, 10 REB, 3 BLK
- Tyree Appleby, G, FL: 14 PTS, 5 AST, 3 STL
Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor continue with a show
Everywhere Roberts has proven that this is not your typical No. 15 series with a win over a Big Ten powerhouse, but a look at the offense confirms just as much.
With the launch of Abmas and Obanor, the Golden Eagles finished tied for tenth place in the country at 81.8 points per game during the regular season. The pair also had a lot of momentum in Sunday’s game after combining 59 points in the win over the Buckeyes.
Abmas acted at the point where he stopped against the Gators and threw in 16 points alone in the first half by hitting on several tries and hitting the track when defenders hit his outside shot.
He kept Oral Roberts within striking distance, despite an impressive performance from Mann on the other hand, which could have asked all the Cinderella candidate for the second half.
However, he needed help, and Obanor found his point in the second half when the Golden Eagles fell behind by two figures.
Obanor tied a four-point game on a clutch to spark a run and took over in a difficult time after his team was behind six. He converted an en-1 to reduce the lead to three, answered an en-1 on the other side with a try, put his team ahead with a jumper in the lane with less than three minutes left and drilled a torque-free throw with 17 seconds left to increase the advantage to three.
The two-man game was enough against the state of Ohio, and so did the work against Florida. No other Oral Roberts player scored double figures, but Abmas and Obanor lit the scoring in another upset.
Florida collapses with revenue
It looked like Florida caught a breather when the Golden Eagles shocked the world in the first round.
It is not very common for a number 7 seed to play a number 15 seed, but the Gators still had to take advantage of the opportunity. By doing so, you would be offending an Oral Roberts defense that is at no. 249 in KenPom.com rankings and did not have the ball stoppers to handle Mann.
It was clear from the start that the Golden Eagles had no answer for the All-SEC first-team pick, which did a bit of everything in the first half to put the Gators ahead.
While Noah Locke and Anthony Duruji provided secondary points, it was Mann who struggled around backfield plates, facilitating where necessary and finding openings in the defense to create shots for himself and others.
It was Mann who also scored three tries in the opening minutes of the second half, which enabled the Gators to finally create a split with a double-digit lead after a back-and-forth first half.
Florida looked like he had to sail to the finish line to the finish line, especially with Tyree Appleby handing out help, Locke hitting from the depths and Colin Castleton settling him low against an extraordinary lead. However, it can never completely pull away due to 20 turnover.
The Gators did not score a single point in the last two minutes and had a lot of turnover in that time, and it cost them.
What’s next?
The Golden Eagles will tackle the third-seeded Razorbacks in Arkansas in a Sweet 16 power play in the Southern region.