A pandemic scheduling quirk helped Oral Roberts pull off major March Madness upset over Ohio State
The 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament already has its first Cinderella.
Oral Roberts became just the ninth 15-seed in tournament history to upset a 2-seed in the first round, beating Ohio State 75-72 in overtime.
That the game went to overtime may have been a huge advantage for Oral Roberts, thanks to their unusual schedule during the regular season.
Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, the Summit League teams played back-to-back games on Saturdays and Sundays. Playing back-to-back days is not unheard of, but it is not common in a sport where teams more typically play just twice a week.
On top of that, Max Abmas, the nation's leading scorer, often played all 40 minutes in both weekend games. Four times during the regular season, Abmas played 80 minutes in a weekend, and two other times he played at least 76 minutes. Then, in their conference tournament, he played all 120 minutes in three days.
Fast-forward to ORU's upset win over the Buckeyes, and you can see where that fitness paid off.
Four of the Golden Eagles' starters played at least 42 minutes in the win. Abmas (29) and teammate Kevin Obanor (30) played all 45 minutes and combined to score 59 of ORU's 75 points. They also scored 10 of their team's 11 points in overtime on 3-4 shooting and 4-5 from the free-throw line.
After the game, Abmas said playing all 45 minutes was no big deal for him.
"During conference, we played back-to-backs," Abmas told CBS. "I played a lot of 40 minutes back-to-back. I think that definitely prepared me for this moment right here."
Meanwhile, Ohio State seemed to tire down the stretch, shooting just 3-9 in overtime, 1-5 from three, and 1-3 on free throws.
And now, the Buckeyes are no longer dancing and a lot of brackets are busted.
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