March Madness: McNeese State almost blows huge leads, but pulls off upset

McNeese’s upset over No. 5 Clemson was over early … until it wasn’t.

The 12th-seeded Cowboys dominated Clemson for a large majority of the game on Thursday, leading by as many as 24 in the second half, but they only managed to squeak by with a 69-67 victory.

Clemson could not find the bottom of the rim in the first half, being held to 13 points and 1-for-15 from three. As for McNeese, they put up 31 in the first 20 minutes, and roughly five minutes into the second half, they led 40-16.

With 8:07 in the game, a three-pointer from Brandon Murray gave McNeese a 51-29 lead, but give all the credit to the Tigers for not calling it quits.

From then on, McNeese went cold and Clemson got hot. Clemson went on a 38-18 run to close the game. McNeese even led by 12 with less than a minute left, but Clemson knocked down four straight 3-pointers to make it a three-point game with 12 seconds to go.

With 10 seconds left, Javohn Garcis went to the line and made one of his two free throws, making it a four-point game. The three-pointer streak ended, and the clock expired after a layup, turning what was a blowout into an exciting thriller at the end.

TENSIONS RUN HIGH DURING MARCH MADNESS GAME AS FAN THROWS WATER BOTTLE ON COURT

It was the first big upset of the tournament. No. 9 Creighton defeated No. 8 Louisville earlier in the day, but those are much easier to predict than 12s over 5s.

McNeese earned its first-ever win in the tournament and next faces No. 4 Purdue, which took down No. 13 High Point earlier in the day, despite the latter making things interesting in the early going.

McNeese made headlines on Wednesday when reports circulated that their head coach, Clemson alum Will Wade, agreed to a deal to become the next head coach at N.C. State at season’s end.

Wade admitted he had spoken with N.C. State officials earlier Wednesday, noting he had been transparent with his players about the potential move.