The first day of the 2024 NCAA College Basketball Tournament is in the books — and it did not disappoint.
The No. 14 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies defeated the No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats in a stunning 80-76 upset on Thursday night, putting the “madness” in March Madness. After leading at halftime, the Grizzlies dominated throughout the final 20 minutes of play. Marred by turnovers, the Wildcats couldn’t find their rhythm, costing their team the win and a shot at the 2024 championship.
Thursday’s win is the Grizzlies’ first in the NCAA tournament.
While Kentucky’s excessive turnovers contributed to their downfall, it was the standout performance of Oakland guard Jack Gohlke that led the Grizzlies to victory. A graduate transfer from Hillsdale College, Gohlke scored a whopping 32 points, with most of them coming from three-pointers. The Oakland guard drained 10 shots from behind the three-point line, making him the No. 1 player in the NCAA in three-point attempts for the 2023-2024 season.
The momentous victory marks a significant milestone for Gohlke, who redshirted as a freshman at Hillsdale. According to CBS Sports, he played “fewer than 6 minutes per game over the following two seasons,” and didn’t become a double-digit scorer until his 2022-2023 season at the Division II school.
Gohlke isn’t the only Hillsdale transfer to make it to the NCAA tournament, however. Former Charger and forward Patrick Cartier played for Colorado State during their short stint in the 2024 tourney. Cartier netted 12 points in the Rams’ First Four victory over the Virginia Cavaliers on Tuesday, but only managed to eke out four points in the team’s Thursday night loss to the No. 7 seed Texas Longhorns.
Cartier “played three seasons with the Chargers and was a two-time G-MAC player of the year, and currently ranks sixth on Hillsdale’s all-time career scoring list with 1,624 total points,” according to The Hillsdale Collegian.
