PITTSBURGH — Jack Gohlke scored 30 points by making 10 shots from behind the arc, and 14th-seeded Oakland caused the first upset in this year's March Madness by defeating third-seeded Kentucky 80-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
The Grizzlies (24-11) sent the Wildcats (23-10) home early in March with the help of Gohlke, a graduate transfer who ended up with 32 points, and some crucial shots by his teammates. Trey Townsend scored 17 points for the Horizon League champions and DQ Cole contributed 12, including a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining, giving the Grizzlies a four-point lead.
Antonio Reeves led Kentucky with 27 points while Tre Mitchell added 14 and Rob Dillingham scored 10, but the Wildcats with a lineup filled with NBA prospects spent most of the game attempting to catch up to Gohlke, without success.
The 6-foot-3 guard, who joined the Grizzlies this season after playing for Division II Hillsdale College, made 10 of 20 3-point attempts, seven of which were made in the first half, just one short of Jeff Fryer’s NCAA Tournament record, set in 1990 for Loyola Marymount. Gohlke's only other points came after he was fouled while attempting a 3.
Gohlke's performance cooled down a bit in the final 20 minutes as he was often defended at halfcourt, but his teammates stepped up. Oakland maintained the lead for the last 14:32, securing the program's first victory in the round of 64.
The Wildcats were expected to win by 13 1/2 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but their poor recent performance in March under coach John Calipari came back to haunt them. Kentucky has not advanced past the tournament's opening weekend since 2019, a disappointingly long period for Calipari and the second most successful program in NCAA history.
Calipari stated that his responsibility is to relieve the pressure from his young team and take it upon himself. At times, it must have felt quite burdensome while Gohlke and the Bulldogs matched the scoring pace of the second-highest-scoring team in the country.
Meanwhile, Oakland coach Greg Kampe achieved a victory after 40 years. The 68-year-old, the longest-serving coach in Division I, has spent four decades at the commuter school in Rochester, Michigan, about 30 miles north of downtown Detroit.
Gohlke received the Horizon League's Sixth Man of the Year award for his excellent outside shooting. He attempted 335 field goals during the regular season, with all but eight of them being 3-pointers, and has now made an NCAA-leading 131 this season. He continued to take shots against Kentucky, especially during an exhilarating first half that had the majority of fans at PPG Paints Arena on their feet and the Wildcats struggling.
Gohlke celebrated after making his fifth 3-pointer by sticking out his tongue. Then, after his sixth successful shot, he imitated Michael Jordan’s famous shoulder shrug from the 1992 NBA finals. Gohlke, who wears No. 3, then banked in his seventh 3-pointer as the Grizzlies built a 38-35 halftime lead, much to the delight of the non-Kentucky fans in the crowd, just as Kampe had hoped.
This momentum carried through to the final buzzer.
Gohlke finished the game holding the ball as the Grizzlies became the 23rd 14th seed to win a first-round game since the tournament grew to 64 teams in 1985.
