Second Round Recap – Albuquerque Region
CLEVELAND – The newly-named Wolstein Center was just full of upsets for the first and second round of the NCAA tournament.
Shortly after the sell-out crowd of 13,332-plus witnessed the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee upset Boston College, 83-75, for a trip to the Sweet 16, West Virginia pulled off an upset of their own – much to the delight of the fans who rooted for both underdogs on Saturday.
The seventh-seeded Mountaineers defeated national champion contender Wake Forest, 111-105 in double overtime, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998.
“This is just a dream come true,” said Mike Gansey, who attended high school at nearby Olmstead Falls and worked out this summer in the Wolstein Center with his brother, Steve, a guard at Cleveland State. “It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Gansey stepped up to the plate in the overtime, scoring 19 of his collegiate-high 29 points in the two overtime sessions. Wake Forest (27-6), who became the first ACC team knocked out of the tournament, was led by Taron Downey, who scored 17 of his 27 points in the two overtimes. Chris Paul scored 22 points.
West Virginia (23-10) will play Texas Tech on Thursday in the regional semifinal of the Albuquerque regional in New Mexico.
“It was what? Three OTs? Two OTs? It was just a long game,” said Paul, who fouled out with 3:24 left in the second overtime. “We got a little fatigued at the end, and Gansey kept making play after play after play.”
The Mountaineers beat their seventh top 25 team of the season, a new school record. In addition, they overcame the third largest deficit against a higher-seeded to win a game in any round of the NCAA tournament. West Virginia trailed Wake Forest 40-27 at halftime.
