They don’t call it “March Madness” for nothing. The giant-slayers were out in full force Saturday with the bracket-busting likes of Ohio and Abilene Christian continuing the chaos that began Friday when fellow Cinderellas Oral Roberts and North Texas cut down Big Ten heavyweights Ohio State and Purdue, respectively. Mere hours after Ohio upset defending champion Virginia, Abilene Christian (who made the leap to Division I only eight years ago) closed the first round with a bang, conquering in-state rival Texas by the thinnest of margins.
Junior forward Joe Pleasant, not known for his success at the charity stripe (59.8 percent on the season), came through in the clutch for Abilene, draining a pair of pressure free throws to give the Wildcats a 53-52 lead with 1.2 seconds remaining. Without a timeout to advance the ball, the Longhorns were forced to go the length of the court, needing a half-court miracle to save their season. Pleasant intercepted the inbounds pass by Brock Cunningham, sealing Abilene Christian’s first tournament win in program history.
The 14th-seeded Wildcats did it with defense, winning the turnover battle by a decisive 23-11 margin in Indy. Abilene overcame an anemic shooting performance, shocking the Longhorns in Saturday’s nightcap despite connecting on just 20 of 67 field-goal attempts (29.9 percent). Few could have envisioned Abilene pulling off a heist of this magnitude, sending Texas to its third straight opening-round loss under head coach Shaka Smart. Only 8.7 percent of participants competing in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge had Abilene surviving Saturday’s encounter with the Big 12 champs.
You could make the argument this has been the wildest two-day stretch in NCAA history with a record four teams seeded 13 or higher advancing to the Round of 32. It’s been a rough year for chalk so far but the undefeated Zags are still standing tall, running their record to 27-0 with Saturday’s 98-55 rout of Norfolk State.
And before you ask, no, Abilene Christian guard Reggie Miller (seven points on 3-of-8 shooting against Texas) is not related to the Indiana Pacers legend who shares his name.
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