Oregon's Jermaine Couisnard praises Oakland's Jack Gohlke for dominant game vs. Kentucky

During Thursday’s slate of NCAA Tournament first-round games being played at PPG Paints Arena, Oregon Ducks senior Jermaine Couisnard’s performance vs. South Carolina looked as if it would be the top story from all the action.

Couisnard, who played three seasons with the Gamecocks before transferring to Oregon two years ago, dropped 40 points against his former team, propelling the 11th-seeded Ducks to an 87-73 upset over No. 6 South Carolina.

His 40 points not only constituted a new personal-best but also set an Oregon record for the NCAA Tournament.

Jermaine Couisnard WENT OFF against his former team ????

40 PTS❗️ pic.twitter.com/7eLErEKBoa

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 21, 2024

Only in March could a performance like that be promptly overshadowed.

By the end of the night, Couisnard’s heroics had been relegated to something of a side note in comparison to No. 14 Oakland’s stunning upset of No. 3 Kentucky in the immediate game to follow Oregon and South Carolina.

Oakland, the Horizon League’s regular-season and conference tournament champion, scored arguably the biggest victory in program history Thursday in beating the Wildcats, 80-76, for its first NCAA Tournament game win.

Within that unexpected triumph for the Golden Grizzlies was one of the most dynamic individual performances in March Madness history, as senior guard Jack Gohlke drained 10 3-pointers, scoring 32 total points.

Gohlke, a sixth-year senior whose previous five collegiate seasons came at Division II Hillsdale (Mich.), finished one 3-pointer short of tying the NCAA Tournament record for most made in a game.

Jack Gohlke’s 10 3s for your viewing pleasure… @OaklandMBB @jgohlke34 pic.twitter.com/b6AHuZNluB

— Anthony Pugh (@Anthony_Pugh2) March 22, 2024

Couisnard took zero issue with being upstaged.

He had high praise for Gohlke’s effort, which escaped the attention of few college hoops fans, Couisnard included.

“It was amazing seeing him shoot the ball like that yesterday,” Couisnard said. “I’m a basketball guy. It doesn’t matter what type of basketball — women’s, men’s — I just like watching basketball. It was just the kind of crazy game, seeing a guy shoot the ball that well against a highly competitive team like (Kentucky), just him not backing down, showing his competitive spirit and being the underdog.”

Despite being locked in for his team’s upcoming second-round matchup against No. 3 Creighton Saturday night, Couisnard was able to take a step back and appreciate Gohlke’s performance.

Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner, on the other end of that preparation, managed to do the same.

“I did watch some of that game,” he said. “I think, even when you’re a player playing in the tournament, you can take a second and go, ‘Wow, that was really crazy what they did.’ Probably not taking it in as much as I will in the future when I’m watching as a fan but you definitely see it and go, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’”

Following the Golden Grizzles’ win over Kentucky, Gohlke said half-jokingly that he was upset about not knocking down a few more 3-pointers, believing he should have finished with 13 of them as opposed to 10.

Gohlke attempted 20 against the Wildcats, finishing with a clean 50% make rate.

No. 11 NC State, which Oakland plays next, is sure to try to limit his long-range opportunities Saturday, but when the ball is in his hands, Gohlke won’t discriminate at firing away.

“I’ll shoot it from anywhere,” Gohlke said. “You probably saw that during the game.”