ORU, Loyola take over March Madness. Here are six takeaways from Sunday’s men’s NCAA Tournament games
The first day of the men's NCAA Tournament second round was as good as it gets, with three double-digit seeds advancing to the Sweet 16 following down-to-the-wire games. And there's still one more day of eight games on tap Monday in which Ohio, UCLA, Abilene Christian and Maryland could all add to that count.
The bracket-busting upsets undoubtedly highlighted the day. No. 1 seed Illinois fell to former Cinderella-turned-contender Loyola Chicago. Then mid-major Oral Roberts continued its storybook run with a second-round win over No. 7 Florida – to become just the second-ever No. 15 seed to get to the second weekend of March Madness.
WINNERS AND LOSERS: Taking stock of Sunday's second-round mayhem
A look at the six biggest takeaways from Sunday's eight games:
Oral Roberts is more than a one-upset wonder
The Golden Eagles, the clear-cut Cinderella of this tournament, erased a No. 11-point deficit to send No. 7 seed Florida home. Oral Roberts took down the Gators by following the same blueprint it used to shock the No. 2 seeded Buckeyes – with the 1-2 punch of Kevin Obanor (28 points, 11 rebounds, four steals) and Max Abmas (26 points, seven assists). Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills said its his team's chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that's been the key ingredient to all the bracket busting: "We're not going to let somebody put a number in front of our name and tell us that that's our worth, or that's our value."
THEIR WAY: Oral Roberts dances way into Sweet 16 and the history books
WHAT AND WHO IS ORAL ROBERTS? Meet the NCAA Tournament's Cinderella team and school
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