By Blake Schuster
After defeating the Jayhawks on Feb. 4th, in Colombia, MO., the University of Missouri printed T-shirts that read “Not In Our House”. After beating #2 seed Missouri 86-84 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, #15 Norfolk State printed off t-shirts of their own, theirs read “This Was No Upset”.
Kyle O’Quinn knew that going into the game, his father and brother — who were sitting courtside during O’Quinn’s 26 point 14 rebound rampage against Missouri — didn’t see it coming.
“I had no idea he could do this,” Tommie O’Quinn, Kyle’s father, said. “He surprised us.”
Not only did he astound his family, but also anyone watching Norfolk State — with the exception of the two people who correctly selected the Spartan upset on ESPN.com —as Missouri became the fifth #2 seed to lose in the NCAA tournament to a #15 seed.
But Norfolk State — rather O’Quinn — should not have been overlooked. O’Quinn was the 2012 MEAC defensive player of the year, a finalist for the mid-major player of the year, and ranked in the top 15th nationally in double-doubles, blocks, rebounds, and field goal percentage. And it took him what could have been his last game as a college athlete to make himself a household name.
“That was one of the most intense basketball games that I have ever been a part of,” Norfolk State coach Anthony Evans said.
After the victory, the Spartans found out what it means to have mid-major tournament success. Brandon Wheeless had 96 text messages and counting, NSU’s student newspaper’s website crashed, and Jamel Fuentes was giving shout-outs to President Barack Obama saying, “We love you, but we ruined your bracket,”
“We knew coming into this game if we let them hang around toward the end it was going to be a ballgame,” Missouri guard Phil Pressey said. “They stuck with us the whole game, congrats to them.”
But sticking around with the Tigers wasn’t as easy as Pressey made it sound. Missouri shot 44.8% from three, Norfolk shot 54.6%. Missouri gobbled up 25 rebounds, the Spartans grabbed 37. Every time Missouri came down and hit a big shot, Norfolk answered with a bigger one.
“We shocked the world,” O’Quinn said. “You always play around and say it but feels good to do it.”
While O’Quinn previously compared the game to David vs. Goliath, he admitted Cinderella looks so much better.
As each Spartan player exited the locker room they passed by one last message on their whiteboard: 32 Left — it was circled in green and accompanied by exclamation marks. And as Norfolk prepares for a Sunday match-up with Florida, O’Quinn is looking to continue his search for a glass slipper — about size 15.