NEWSLETTER
You read that right. The 3-seed Kentucky Wildcats lost to the 14-seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies, marking the first major March Madness upset of 2024. Oakland was the better team the entire game, and it sent the big bad Kentucky Wildcats home early yet again in a stunner of an upset—not one we envisioned in our 14 vs. 3 seed breakdown.
14-seed Oakland beats 3-seed Kentucky!
The Wildcats have been beaten in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the 2nd time in the last three years. This time, it wasn’t Peacocks that blinded them with their brilliance. It was the Golden Grizzlies roaring past Kentucky from the 3-point line. Oakland was no slouch this season, having won both the regular season and conference tournament titles. But they rated out as the 6th worst team in the tournament according to Kenpom, and weren’t “great” in any metric except free throws.
14 Oakland vs. 3 Kentucky 2024 March Madness upset team stats
| Stat | 14 Oakland | 3 Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 80 | 76 |
| FG | 26-63 | 26-61 |
| Field Goal % | 41.3 | 42.6 |
| 3PT | 15-31 | 9-27 |
| Three Point % | 48.4 | 33.3 |
| FT | 13-23 | 15-20 |
| Free Throw % | 56.5 | 75 |
| Rebounds | 40 | 39 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 14 | 11 |
| Defensive Rebounds | 26 | 28 |
| Assists | 16 | 17 |
| Steals | 5 | 2 |
| Blocks | 1 | 6 |
| Total Turnovers | 7 | 11 |
| Points Off Turnovers | 12 | 5 |
| Fast Break Points | 4 | 8 |
| Points in Paint | 16 | 32 |
| Fouls | 18 | 18 |
| Largest Lead | 7 | 2 |
March Madness upset: 14 Oakland vs. 3 Kentucky story
From the tip, it was clear that the Golden Grizzlies wouldn’t be scared off by the Wildcats. In fact, they never trailed by more than 2 points all game and withstood every single Kentucky push with a massive counterpunch of their own. Oakland took a 46-45 lead with 14:38 left and, from that moment on, never surrendered it.
March is when stars are born, and tonight, Oakland’s Jack Gohlke was blinding. The non-D1 transfer lit it up from deep, becoming just the 5th player ever to make 10 or more 3-pointers during an NCAA Tournament game. He finished the night 10/20 from the field, with all 20 of his attempts coming from beyond the arc. As a team, the Golden Grizzlies shot 15-31 (48.4%) from bonus land, making 6 more 3’s than Kentucky.
Oakland was an almost 6-1 underdog and probably made a lot of 2024 March Madness upset bettors happy. You can get into the action as well by taking advantage of some awesome SPORTSBOOK PROMO CODES.
14 Oakland vs. 3 Kentucky Top Performers
14 Oakland Golden Grizzlies
3 Kentucky Wildcats
Who does Oakland play next?
Oakland gets to celebrate this momentous win tonight as they await the winner of 6-seed Texas Tech vs. 11-seed NC State on Saturday.
