March Madness upset tracker: Furman stuns Virginia, how far can Paladins go?

Looking for this 12 months’s early candidate for a Cinderella able to go on a dream run?

Well, Furman was the primary workforce to boost its hand on Thursday, with the NCAA Tournament’s first alternative for a significant upset delivering simply that.

The Thirteenth-seeded Paladins sunk Virginia, the South Region’s No. 4 seed, which is aware of all about being on the improper finish of painful shocks, thanks an unbelievable flip of occasions over the ultimate seconds in Orlando.

Bob Richey’s Furman workforce will now tackle the winner of the conflict between No. 5 San Diego State and No. 12 College of Charleston. The Aztecs are elite defensively, however not nice within the scoring column, whereas College of Charleston is a well-liked Cinderella choose, tied for the nationwide lead in wins with 31.

Both San Diego State and College of Charleston are skilled teams, and each are using scorching streaks into the match. The Aztecs have received 10 of their final 11 video games, whereas the Cougars are using a 10-game successful streak heading into the Big Dance.

Whatever comes after this, Furman will always remember what befell throughout just a few moments of true March-style insanity.

Deep into the ultimate minute, Virginia appeared to have issues beneath management, working with a 67-63 lead, having taken defensive management down the stretch. But Kihei Clark missed a free throw, Furman large man Garrett Hien (a 51% FT shooter) made two from the stripe, after which all of it turned to chaos.

Furman put strain on Virginia following the ensuing inbounds move, and Clark opted to hurl the ball down the courtroom unsighted. It landed in Hien’s fingers and was swiftly delivered to the unguarded J.P. Pegues, who drained a triple to place his workforce up 68-67 with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Reece Beekman‘s desperate last effort was wayward for Virginia, and that was it.

This is SoCon Tournament champ Furman’s first journey to the NCAA Tournament since 1980 and this system’s first match win since 1974. Thursday’s triumph got here regardless of being with out star guard Mike Bothwell within the remaining minutes after having fouled out. 

Tony Bennett’s Virginia workforce had reached the ACC Tournament title recreation final weekend, and led by as many as 12 on Thursday, earlier than a comeback spurred by Furman’s Jalen Slawson, who ended with 19 factors.

This wasn’t on the identical scale as when Bennett’s group was a No. 1 seed and misplaced to Sixteenth-seeded UMBC – on the very same day 5 years in the past – but it surely was an upset few noticed coming.

Most importantly, it served rapid discover. Cinderella, as soon as once more, is coming to play.

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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the writer of the FOX Sports Insider publication. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the day by day publication.

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