Oakland brings March Madness to Pittsburgh with upset of 3rd-seeded Kentucky

During Jack Gohlke’s previous trip into Pittsburgh in late February, he scored nine points against Robert Morris.

It took less than a month, but his return to the city with the 14th-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies put him on the brink of celebrity status.

Gohlke, a senior who started his college career at Division II Hillsdale (Mich.), scored 32 points — 20 above his average — Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena to eject No. 3-seeded Kentucky from the NCAA Tournament, 80-76.

He hit 10 3-pointers on 20 attempts, one short of the all-time tournament record. Only four others in tournament history have made that many.

Gohlke, who didn’t start but played nearly 36 minutes, was all smiles in the postgame news conference, but there is one way to make him mad: Call Oakland (24-11) a Cinderella team.

“Obviously, we come in, we’re the underdog by all measures” he said, “but as a player, you can’t think like that. You have to go out there and think you have the same talent as (Kentucky). I know they have (NBA) draft picks, and I know I’m not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night, I can compete with those guys, and our team can.

“That’s why I say we’re not a Cinderella because when we play our A game, we can be the best team on the floor.”

(Just to be clear, Gohlke would welcome a shot at the NBA or a professional career overseas. “I’ve worked too hard to stop playing after this year,” he said.)

Oakland, the regular season and Horizon League Tournament champion, will get another chance to prove itself Saturday when its meets N.C. State in the Round of 32.

Gohlke, who has played only one season at Oakland, was asked what it will feel like to wake up Friday morning as a celebrity. He laughed at the question.

“That’s funny,” he said. “I don’t care too much about that. I want to be a bigger celebrity after our team wins the next game. That’s really all I’m thinking about is (Friday), our prep for (the next game) and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to win again.”

Kentucky (23-10) came into the game as one of the worst defensive teams in the NCAA, allowing an average of 79.7 points (334th of 351 schools). The Wildcats almost kept Oakland under that number, but the story of the game was the Golden Grizzlies shooting 48.3% (15 of 31) from beyond the 3-point arc.

Oakland’s largest lead was 61-54 with 8 minutes, 9 seconds left in the game, but Kentucky rallied behind Antonio Reeves, who scored 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting that included five 3-pointers. Former Elizabeth Forward standout Tre Mitchell scored 14 for the Wildcats. Quaker Valley graduate Adou Thiero played briefly and scored two.

The outcome was in doubt over the final eight minutes, especially when Kentucky’s Justin Edwards, Reeves and Rob Dillingham hit 3-pointers to trim the Oakland lead to 75-74 with a minute to play. But with the shot clock running down, Oakland turned to another 3-point shooter, DQ Cole, whose long-range jumper from the corner gave the Grizzlies a 78-74 lead with 28 seconds left.

Reed Sheppard missed a 3 for Kentucky, and Oakland’s Trey Townsend hit a free throw for a 79-74 lead with 18 seconds left. Finally, Oakland fans could breathe.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has suffered other tough defeats in his career, but he said Thursday’s game was different.

“I’m really hurting for them (his players),” he said. “This team I really felt could have done so much more. We made some critical mistakes at critical times. As many shots as they made, we still had our chances.”

For Mitchell, the loss was the second tough one in two seasons for two different teams. He played for West Virginia last season when the Mountaineers lost to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 67-65.

“Last year, I was in tears. I was bumming,” he said. “This time, it’s like I have so many emotions going on that I can’t feel them. I’m just kind of numb right now. I’m sure it will hit me, but this one hurts a lot.

“You’re in the headlines of a Cinderella story when you know that we had the potential to make a really deep run in this thing.”

Oakland coach Greg Kampe had a definite feeling after the game — not lucky to win, but lucky to coach this group of players, he said.

“You stay around long enough, you’re going to get lucky, right?” he said. “They’re the greatest group of kids. I mean they’re unbelievable. This is the greatest win I’ve ever been a part of. This one, prime time, against the great coach, the great program and all that.”

Oakland led for nearly 28 of the game’s 40 minutes, but Kampe said those other 12 were the true test of his team.

“Every time they got the lead, we came right back,” he said. “If we were pretenders, we would have folded. We’re not pretenders. We believe we belong here.”