March Madness, has been a story of upsets in 2021. We’re in the second day of the round of 32 and it’s anybody’s guess who will fall today.
Sunday saw the continued Cinderella stories of both Loyola Chicago and Oral Roberts. The 8-seed Ramblers knocked off Illinois, in a 71-58 win which saw Sister Jean’s prayers for the Illini to shoot under 30 percent from the three-point line come true.
Just when you thought your bracket couldn’t get much worse, Loyola Chicago upsets Illinois 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ipwIYfPS9A
— ESPN (@espn) March 21, 2021
15-seed Oral Roberts started off the tournament upsetting Ohio State, and on Sunday they held on for an 81-78 win over 7-seed Florida. Oral Roberts have won their games by a combined six points, and they’ll face 3-seed Arkansas in their first Sweet 16 since 1974.
Those weren’t the only upsets to happen on Sunday. 11-seed Syracuse looked like some of Jim Boeheim’s best in beating 3-seed West Virginia, and 12-seed Oregon State, having already defeated one orange team in 5-seed Tennessee, did so again against 4-seed Oklahoma State.
Goodbye to Drew Timme’s mustache?
1-seed Gonzaga had a superb performance from sophomore forward Drew Timme in their win over 8-seed Oklahoma. Timme dropped 30 points, pulled down 13 rebounds, and added four assists for good measure. After the game, he was informed that his mom said he had to shave his mustache if the Bulldogs won — which was news to him, as it turns out.
“This is news to me.” 😅😂
Drew Timme’s mom said he would have to shave his mustache if @ZagMBB made it to the #Sweet16! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/52CZQPefmZ
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 22, 2021
Luka Garza’s emotional farewell
2-seed Iowa was knocked out by 7-seed Oregon on Monday, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort from Luka Garza. The Hawkeyes center scored 36 of his team’s 80 points and added nine rebounds for good measure. After the game, the senior reflected in an emotional news conference on his final game representing Iowa.
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Iowa senior Luka Garza gets emotional as he checks out of the game for the final time as a Hawkeye.
One thing that was more impressive about Garza’s line? Oregon made him earn those points — they contested 16 of his 20 shots.