Oral Roberts became just the second No. 15 seed to ever reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament when the Golden Eagles knocked off No. 7 seed Florida 81-78 on Sunday. Just two days after carrying Oral Roberts to a shocking upset of No. 2 seed Ohio State, the duo of Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor came up huge again with a combined 54 points.
Florida led 67-56 with 9:48 to go but went cold late as Oral Roberts proved once again that it has the clutch gene. The Eagles were particularly clutch at the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-23 attempts.
Next up for Oral Roberts will be a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 3 seed Arkansas, which outlasted Texas Tech 68-66 on Sunday. The teams have already met once this season, and Oral Roberts put a scare into the Razorbacks. The Golden Eagles actually led 40-30 at halftime before Arkansas roared back for an 87-76 victory.
But Oral Roberts has proved since then that it can hang with anyone in the nation, and if it beats Arkansas, it would become the first No. 15 seed to ever reach the Elite Eight. The only other No. 15 seed to make it to the Sweet 16 was Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 when it beat beat No. 2 Seed Georgetown and No 7 seed San Diego State in the first weekend and lost to No. 3 seed Florida in the Sweet 16.
Indomitable duo
Abmas entered the NCAA Tournament as the nation's leading scorer and has only increased his edge in that category with two heroic showings so far in the NCAA Tournament. Obanor has been right by his side in box scores throughout the season and has even kicked his game up a gear on the big stage.
The two scored a combined 59 points while each played every second of the overtime win against the Buckeyes. Both played the whole game again on Sunday, and Obanor saved his best for last. The 6-foot-8 junior scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half, including 13 in the final 10 minutes.
Looking forward
Paul Mills took the Oral Roberts coaching job before the 2017-18 season after working on Baylor's staff under Scott Drew from 2003 to 2017. Now, he is just one win away from a potential matchup with his old squad. Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the South Region. With a win over Arkansas, Oral Roberts would likely face Baylor with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
The first meeting between ORU and the Razorbacks came on Dec. 20, and Arkansas caught fire in the second half with 57 points to avoid a loss. But Abmas had an uncharacteristically quiet game, scoring just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Arkansas will need to review the tape and see what it did to contain the 6-foot-1 dynamo in that contest, because the defensive strategies employed by Ohio State and Florida clearly failed.
Florida folds
The Gators failed to score in the final 2:29 after earning what appeared to be a comfortable lead midway through the second half. In the end, they were outscored 25-11 down the stretch as their season of adversity met a disappointing end.
In some ways, making it to the cusp of the Sweet 16 should be regarded as a success for Florida after it lost preseason SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson for the season following his frightening collapse on the court at Florida State on Dec. 12. But the Gators rallied without him and even reached No. 22 in the AP poll in February. However, Florida lost four of its final six games and this now marks three straight NCAA Tournament appearances that have seen Florida fail to escape the first weekend.
