It didn’t take long for March Madness to live up to its name.
RJ Hunter’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining capped a furious fightback and lifted No14-seeded Georgia State to an improbable 57-56 win over No3-seeded Baylor in Jacksonville.
When Baylor’s Rico Gathers hit a pair of free throws to give the Bears a 56-44 lead with 2:55 remaining, it seemed Georgia State’s tournament stay would be a short one. Hunter, GSU’s leading scorer, had been held to four points on 1-for-8 shooting. Prospects for the upstart Sun Belt conference champions appeared dim.
But the Panthers charged back to score the final 13 points of the game – including 12 from Hunter – to score the second major upset of the tournament after UAB’s shock win over Iowa State earlier Thursday.
Baylor were complicit in their own undoing, committing four turnovers during the last three minutes and missing the front end of a one-and-one in the final 30 seconds.
How unlikely were Thursday’s early results?
ESPN said only 86,737 of the 11.57m entries in its bracket prediction contest – only 0.7% – were still perfect after only three games.
The Panthers advances to face the winner of Thursday’s game between No6 Xavier and No11 Ole Miss (4.10pm ET, TBS).
