When NBA prospect Trevor Mbakwe received a sixth year of eligibility due to his injuries over the years, it almost guaranteed Minnesota an NCAA bid. Tuesday he scored 21 points and Andre Hollins added 16 and the Gophers beat No. 1 Indiana – the seventh time a No. 1 has lost this year. The Gophers was the biggest resume builder for a tournament bid except for Tennessee’s upset of No. 8 Florida.
Breitbart Sports named Tennessee as the hottest team in the country when moving the Vols up to their No. 11 spot in the “Middle 20.” Tennessee had the biggest win of the night, as their upset of the Gators as Jordan McRae made it 84 points in three games. For details on Tennessee’s win, click here.
It was a game that saw the Hoosiers two first team All-Americans, Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo, struggle to put up nine points and 16 points respectively.
Mbakwe previously played for Tom Crean, the coach for Indiana, at Marquette in the 2007-08 season. Crean played him late in the season after a long injury which would have normally meant he was not playing this season, but a transfer to junior college for a year and then the extra year granted by the NCAA made this his sixth season.
Breitbart Sports had still included Minnesota as one of seven Big Ten“locks” for the tournament despite their slide the previous few weeks, and defeating a No. 1 team should leave no doubt that Tubby Smith and the Gophers deserve a bid.
For more details on the game, see the UPI story here.