INDIANÁPOLIS – Paul Mills arrived on the laundry day.
After spending more than a week in the NCAA tournament bubble, Mills and his team Oral Roberts are not leaving the city. The Golden Eagles are heading for Sweet 16, joining the 2013 Florida Gulf Coast team as the only 15 seeds in tournament history to reach the round of 16.
Oral Roberts eliminated an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat Florida 81-78 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Sunday. The Eagles, who on Friday won their first NCAA tournament game since 1974 by a stunning 2nd place at Ohio State, advanced to Sweet 16 for the first time since the same year, when they were called Titans and the tournament featured just 25 teams.
“I’m happy to have the chance to do laundry,” Mills said in a video call with reporters. “We arrived here last Saturday. We will be off [Monday]. Tomorrow will be a good day because I am without clothes. “
His team did not run out of chances after beating Florida 13-4 in the final 4:34. Star pair Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas supplied Oral Roberts, combining 54 points and both playing every 40 minutes, but sophomore DeShang Weaver put the Golden Eagles forever with a 3: 9 corner kick with 2:09 to play. Florida had two chances to draw in the final seconds, but Tre Mann’s and Scottie Lewis’s three-point attempts failed.
“DJ Weaver was huge,” said Mills. “We knew they were playing 1-3-1 [zone], so we put DJ there. I just said to the DJ, I said, ‘DJ, you’re going to have a chance to win or invite us. I need you to drop this 3. ‘
“This kid is not scared. I love DJ Weaver. He’s super tough, he cares about a team.”
Oral Roberts advances in the Southern Region to face the third position, Arkansas. The teams met on December 20 in Fayetteville; Razorbacks won 87-76 and kept Abmas with just 11 points.
According to the ESPN Stats & Information survey, Oral Roberts is the third Summit League team to reach the Sweet 16, and the first since 1998, when Valparaiso lost to Rhode Island 74-68. Oral Roberts had four consecutive losing seasons before winning 17 games in each of the last two campaigns under Mills.
“I didn’t know that 1974 was the last [NCAA tournament] “Mills said.” To be honest, I told the guys throughout the year: ‘Not only are we going to win the conference tournament, but we are going to win several games in the NCAA.’ We talked about – and many coaches do that – winning in March in November: ‘These are the things that need to happen to win in March’. “
Mills is excited about the additional attention the university will receive this week, but believes that staying in the NCAA bubble will help keep his team focused at an even greater stage.
“If you saw EJ Liddell’s tweet, these things are so fake,” said Mills. “If you are puffed up with praise, you can be ruined by criticism. I really tried to warn our guys that it is important that they get attention, that they are recognized for what they do, but when they have real problems, none of these people are around You need to recognize it for what it is, and you also need to understand fandom when it doesn’t work your way. The controlled environment, as the NCAA said, is great. people pull it in several different directions.
“So, 100 percent helps.”
Florida led 42-37 at halftime, shot 55% of the field and had four players scoring 14 points or more. But the Gators committed 20 turnovers against just 12 for Oral Roberts. Obanor followed a 30-point performance against Ohio State, scoring 20 in the second half against Florida.
“I am very grateful, even with this crazy year for COVID, nothing has been promised,” said the junior striker. “The fact that we have March Madness and win some games, we are very grateful, very humble, very honorable. Florida was a good team. The last time we won a game in the NCAA tournament was in 1974 and now we are in Sweet 16 .
“It really is mind-blowing.”