The Oakland Golden Grizzlies have done it. For the first time in their history, they are headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after pulling off arguably the biggest March Madness upset thus far.
Oakland senior Jack Gohlke emerged as the unlikely hero of Thursday’s monumental 80-76 victory over a powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats side. This is after the 6-foot-3 guard drained a mind-blowing 10 triples on the evening in his 32-point explosion off the bench.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies’ Hack Gohlke Goes Full Michael Jordan
Not too many folks out there, if any, expected this type of breakout performance from Gohlke. The young man caught fire from the get-go, and he simply refused to take his foot off the gas. Thanks to his sharpshooting prowess, the Golden Grizzlies were able to hold off Kentucky and their NBA-bound stars.
At one point in the first half, after sinking his sixth triple of the evening, Gohlke just had to bust out the famed Michael Jordan shrug:
Jack Gohlke hit a 3 on Reed Sheppard then hit the MJ shrug. What planet are we on? pic.twitter.com/o0zrNDnxlt
— Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) March 22, 2024
Nobody has the right to pull off that iconic celebration unless you do something totally astounding. Well, Gohlke’s jaw-dropping performance on Thursday absolutely falls into that category.
Oakland got strong outings from Trey Townsend (17 points, 12 rebounds) and DQ Cole (12 points, eight rebounds) as well, but there’s no denying who the star of the show was tonight.
For their part, No. 3 seed Kentucky will now be heading home with nothing to show for. This is not exactly the best way to send off the likes of Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, who are both now expected to take part in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The fairy tale continues for the Golden Grizzlies, though, who now await the winner between Texas Tech and North Carolina State.
For More NBA Content:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @HardwoodHeroics. You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest NBA news, click here!
