by Chris Maynard
| This “Wednesday Watch” reviews a historic upset from the 1997 NCAA Tournament, when a MEAC upstart from Baltimore, Maryland, knocked out a favored SEC squad from Columbia, South Carolina. |
Somewhat forgotten in the grand scheme of the NCAA Tournament, the 78-65 victory for Coppin State against South Carolina would mark just the third time (since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985) that a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed.
Since tournament expansion, a No. 15 seed has defeated a No. 2 seed eight times.
Of course, such an upset took place this past year when #15 Middle Tennessee State shocked #2 Michigan State in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Here is a comprehensive look at this 1997 first round game introducing the world to Coppin State and its animated head coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell.
· Why You Should Watch This Game: In 1985 the NCAA Tournament expanded from 53 to 64 teams, a decision that was not without controversy. During this time some principals believed that smaller schools should not be allowed to participate in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, such an elitist attitude went against the whole point of the NCAA Tournament, the possibility of the upset, and has been proven wrong many times in March.
To this day, a No. 16 seed has still never defeated a No. 1 seed, and following tournament expansion in 1985, a No. 15 seed would need seven tournaments to beat a No. 2 seed.
During the 1991 NCAA Tournament, the Richmond Spiders became the first No. 15 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed when it upset Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orangemen 73-69.
Two years later, a Santa Clara squad featuring freshman Steve Nash (coming off the bench) would become the second No. 15 seed to upset a No. 2 seed, with a 64-61 win against Lute Olsen’s Arizona Wildcats in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
While No. 2 seeds would be safe for the next three tournaments, South Carolina would join Syracuse and Arizona on the dubious list of having fallen to a No. 15 seed.
· What You Would Have Been Watching for South Carolina in 1997: While Eddie Fogler’s 1997 South Carolina team lacks name recognition nearly 20 years later, the Gamecocks were a deep squad that actually won the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship in 1997!
South Carolina did so by defeating Kentucky not once but twice during the regular season. At the time Kentucky was a juggernaut under Rick Pitino, coming off a national championship in 1996 and preparing for a return to the title game in 1997 (before winning it with Tubby Smith in 1998). The fact that South Carolina defeated Kentucky twice in the same season is quite impressive.
Overall, the 1996-1997 South Carolina Gamecocks were an amazing 15-1 in the SEC and 24-8 overall. The team was led by a trio of guards, sophomore B.J. McKie (17.8 points per game), senior Larry Davis (16.0 points per game) and junior Melvin Watson (11.0 points per game). These guards made the deep Gamecocks go; unfortunately, on this day, the trio would struggle mightily for South Carolina.
Prior to the Coppin State game, South Carolina had lost in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to Tubby Smith’s Georgia team, which was the only conference opponent to defeat South Carolina in 1997.
Like Coppin State, Georgia would have a short stay in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, losing as a No. 3 seed in the first round to the No. 14 seed Tennessee Chattanooga Moccasins.
· What You Would Have Been Watching from Coppin State in 1997: Chances are you were like me in 1997 and had never heard of Coppin State. The Eagles were coached by Ron “Fang” Mitchell, who was first hired at Coppin State in 1986 and would coach the Baltimore school for 28 years.
While getting Coppin State to the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1993 (both first round losses) and then returning in 2008 (another first round loss), Mitchell’s 1996-1997 team would secure the most recognized win in his coaching career on Friday, March 14, 1997.
Winners of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 15-3 conference record and a 22-9 overall record, Coppin State was led by junior guard Antoine Brockington (17 points per game). Four other players scored in double digits for the Eagles, including senior power forward Terquin Mott (14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game), senior forward Reggie Welch (14.5 ppg), sophomore forward Fred Warrik (12 ppg) and junior point guard Danny Singletary (10.5 ppg).
While Brockington and Mott, who actually declared for the 1996 NBA Draft before withdrawing, were the stars of this Coppin State team, Singletary would be the player to shine on this afternoon.
· What I Remember Watching: This first-round game between Coppin State and South Carolina took place on the first Friday of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, during the second set of day games. At the time I was in high school and in class, so I did not get to see the game. I do remember watching a recap of the 1997 NCAA Tournament during the Road to the Final Four show and hearing Clark Kellogg narrate Coppin State’s upset. CBS titled the upset “Coppin’ An Attitude” and showed some memorable moments of Mitchell getting animated on the sidelines before including a snippet of his press conference after the victory.
· Who Watched for You: This game was called by the CBS team of Mike Gorman (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (color analyst). Quite honestly, I was unaware that Gorman, the voice of Big East basketball during the conference’s heyday in the 1980s, had called tournament games for CBS. I was equally surprised and happy to hear Gorman recently call men’s basketball games during the concluding Rio Olympics. With a steady voice and East Coast accent, Gorman called the game with a leveled subtlety transitioning to real excitement that worked quite well as Coppin State started to pull away late in the second half. As for Sundvold, a former Missouri star and NBA journeyman, I wrote about how I liked his color commentary during a 1999 NCAA Tournament game between Gonzaga and Minnesota. All in all, Sundvold was not the most charismatic color man but he was well-prepared and insightful. Personally, I enjoyed hearing him call tournament games during my high-school years.
· Where They Were Watching: This game took place at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The host school was Duquesne. Honestly, the Civic Arena was not one of my favorite tournament sites with its low lighting and blue court, which sort of looked like The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. As this game took place during the latter half of the Friday day games, it had a sleepy feel, with the Civic Arena contributing to that atmosphere, until Coppin State showed life late in the first half.
· If You Don’t Want to Watch (Game Summary): Sundvold frequently used the word “sleepwalking” to describe South Carolina in the first half; that world could have been applied to nearly the first 25 minutes of the game. In large part, the first half was a feeling-out process for both teams. While South Carolina would get out to leads of seven points, Coppin State would hang around, in large part due to capitalizing off South Carolina turnovers. A late Coppin State run, fueled by Brockington, in the last four minutes of the first half tied the game at 34 at the break and seemed to foreshadow an exciting final 20 minutes. Thanks to big man Ryan Stack, South Carolina built its lead back up immediately out of the halftime gates and would lead for a good 10 minutes. However, Coppin State would get rolling in the final 10 minutes of the game, take control from the under-8 to the under-4, and then cruise to the upset, with Singletary the catalyst.
Since tournament expansion, a No. 15 seed has defeated a No. 2 seed eight times.
Of course, such an upset took place this past year when #15 Middle Tennessee State shocked #2 Michigan State in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Here is a comprehensive look at this 1997 first round game introducing the world to Coppin State and its animated head coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell.
· Why You Should Watch This Game: In 1985 the NCAA Tournament expanded from 53 to 64 teams, a decision that was not without controversy. During this time some principals believed that smaller schools should not be allowed to participate in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, such an elitist attitude went against the whole point of the NCAA Tournament, the possibility of the upset, and has been proven wrong many times in March.
To this day, a No. 16 seed has still never defeated a No. 1 seed, and following tournament expansion in 1985, a No. 15 seed would need seven tournaments to beat a No. 2 seed.
During the 1991 NCAA Tournament, the Richmond Spiders became the first No. 15 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed when it upset Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orangemen 73-69.
Two years later, a Santa Clara squad featuring freshman Steve Nash (coming off the bench) would become the second No. 15 seed to upset a No. 2 seed, with a 64-61 win against Lute Olsen’s Arizona Wildcats in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
While No. 2 seeds would be safe for the next three tournaments, South Carolina would join Syracuse and Arizona on the dubious list of having fallen to a No. 15 seed.
· What You Would Have Been Watching for South Carolina in 1997: While Eddie Fogler’s 1997 South Carolina team lacks name recognition nearly 20 years later, the Gamecocks were a deep squad that actually won the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship in 1997!
South Carolina did so by defeating Kentucky not once but twice during the regular season. At the time Kentucky was a juggernaut under Rick Pitino, coming off a national championship in 1996 and preparing for a return to the title game in 1997 (before winning it with Tubby Smith in 1998). The fact that South Carolina defeated Kentucky twice in the same season is quite impressive.
Overall, the 1996-1997 South Carolina Gamecocks were an amazing 15-1 in the SEC and 24-8 overall. The team was led by a trio of guards, sophomore B.J. McKie (17.8 points per game), senior Larry Davis (16.0 points per game) and junior Melvin Watson (11.0 points per game). These guards made the deep Gamecocks go; unfortunately, on this day, the trio would struggle mightily for South Carolina.
Prior to the Coppin State game, South Carolina had lost in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to Tubby Smith’s Georgia team, which was the only conference opponent to defeat South Carolina in 1997.
Like Coppin State, Georgia would have a short stay in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, losing as a No. 3 seed in the first round to the No. 14 seed Tennessee Chattanooga Moccasins.
· What You Would Have Been Watching from Coppin State in 1997: Chances are you were like me in 1997 and had never heard of Coppin State. The Eagles were coached by Ron “Fang” Mitchell, who was first hired at Coppin State in 1986 and would coach the Baltimore school for 28 years.
While getting Coppin State to the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1993 (both first round losses) and then returning in 2008 (another first round loss), Mitchell’s 1996-1997 team would secure the most recognized win in his coaching career on Friday, March 14, 1997.
Winners of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a 15-3 conference record and a 22-9 overall record, Coppin State was led by junior guard Antoine Brockington (17 points per game). Four other players scored in double digits for the Eagles, including senior power forward Terquin Mott (14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game), senior forward Reggie Welch (14.5 ppg), sophomore forward Fred Warrik (12 ppg) and junior point guard Danny Singletary (10.5 ppg).
While Brockington and Mott, who actually declared for the 1996 NBA Draft before withdrawing, were the stars of this Coppin State team, Singletary would be the player to shine on this afternoon.
· What I Remember Watching: This first-round game between Coppin State and South Carolina took place on the first Friday of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, during the second set of day games. At the time I was in high school and in class, so I did not get to see the game. I do remember watching a recap of the 1997 NCAA Tournament during the Road to the Final Four show and hearing Clark Kellogg narrate Coppin State’s upset. CBS titled the upset “Coppin’ An Attitude” and showed some memorable moments of Mitchell getting animated on the sidelines before including a snippet of his press conference after the victory.
· Who Watched for You: This game was called by the CBS team of Mike Gorman (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (color analyst). Quite honestly, I was unaware that Gorman, the voice of Big East basketball during the conference’s heyday in the 1980s, had called tournament games for CBS. I was equally surprised and happy to hear Gorman recently call men’s basketball games during the concluding Rio Olympics. With a steady voice and East Coast accent, Gorman called the game with a leveled subtlety transitioning to real excitement that worked quite well as Coppin State started to pull away late in the second half. As for Sundvold, a former Missouri star and NBA journeyman, I wrote about how I liked his color commentary during a 1999 NCAA Tournament game between Gonzaga and Minnesota. All in all, Sundvold was not the most charismatic color man but he was well-prepared and insightful. Personally, I enjoyed hearing him call tournament games during my high-school years.
· Where They Were Watching: This game took place at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The host school was Duquesne. Honestly, the Civic Arena was not one of my favorite tournament sites with its low lighting and blue court, which sort of looked like The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. As this game took place during the latter half of the Friday day games, it had a sleepy feel, with the Civic Arena contributing to that atmosphere, until Coppin State showed life late in the first half.
· If You Don’t Want to Watch (Game Summary): Sundvold frequently used the word “sleepwalking” to describe South Carolina in the first half; that world could have been applied to nearly the first 25 minutes of the game. In large part, the first half was a feeling-out process for both teams. While South Carolina would get out to leads of seven points, Coppin State would hang around, in large part due to capitalizing off South Carolina turnovers. A late Coppin State run, fueled by Brockington, in the last four minutes of the first half tied the game at 34 at the break and seemed to foreshadow an exciting final 20 minutes. Thanks to big man Ryan Stack, South Carolina built its lead back up immediately out of the halftime gates and would lead for a good 10 minutes. However, Coppin State would get rolling in the final 10 minutes of the game, take control from the under-8 to the under-4, and then cruise to the upset, with Singletary the catalyst.
· First Half Plays Worth Watching: @ 10:20-10:25 : Brockington shows why he led the Philadelphia Public League in scoring with a nice baseline basket. Brockington’s game reminds me a bit of a combination of Ricky Davis and Rodney Buford.
@ 15:42: You can hear a referee saying: “#22 keep your elbows down.” The referee is referring to Coppin State’s Mott, who plays like Othella Harrington down low but with much more nastiness.
@ 18:20 – 18:40: Coppin State’s Julian King gets a nice and-one on a choppy play symbolic of most of the fisrt half.
@ 19:30- 19:56: The CBS audience is introduced to some of Mitchell’s animations on the sideline.
@ 22:09-24:15: CBS does one of its classic “Live Look-Ins” before every game was available to see, as is the case nowadays. With Pat O’Brien and Clark Kellogg in the studio, CBS checks in on first-half action involving UNC-Charlotte handling Georgetown 31-19, Michael Ruffin of Tulsa scoring a basket against Boston University, and Chris Gandy of Illinois hitting a nice baseline jumper early in the Illinois game against Southern California.
@ 25:20-26:00: South Carolina reserve Arthur Carlisle has a nice tip-in on a missed three.
@ 27:05-27:40: Both teams go back and forth with three straight good possessions (a rarity in the first half).
@ 30:00-30:42: South Carolina’s Herbert Lee Davis and Coppin State’s Antoine Brockington have a three-point-shooting party.
@ 33:20 – 36:04: Coppin State finishes the first half on a nice run, tying the game at 34 and getting the crowd at Civic Arena excited.
Key first half stats: South Carolina has 11 turnovers; Coppin State has 9 steals.
@ 15:42: You can hear a referee saying: “#22 keep your elbows down.” The referee is referring to Coppin State’s Mott, who plays like Othella Harrington down low but with much more nastiness.
@ 18:20 – 18:40: Coppin State’s Julian King gets a nice and-one on a choppy play symbolic of most of the fisrt half.
@ 19:30- 19:56: The CBS audience is introduced to some of Mitchell’s animations on the sideline.
@ 22:09-24:15: CBS does one of its classic “Live Look-Ins” before every game was available to see, as is the case nowadays. With Pat O’Brien and Clark Kellogg in the studio, CBS checks in on first-half action involving UNC-Charlotte handling Georgetown 31-19, Michael Ruffin of Tulsa scoring a basket against Boston University, and Chris Gandy of Illinois hitting a nice baseline jumper early in the Illinois game against Southern California.
@ 25:20-26:00: South Carolina reserve Arthur Carlisle has a nice tip-in on a missed three.
@ 27:05-27:40: Both teams go back and forth with three straight good possessions (a rarity in the first half).
@ 30:00-30:42: South Carolina’s Herbert Lee Davis and Coppin State’s Antoine Brockington have a three-point-shooting party.
@ 33:20 – 36:04: Coppin State finishes the first half on a nice run, tying the game at 34 and getting the crowd at Civic Arena excited.
Key first half stats: South Carolina has 11 turnovers; Coppin State has 9 steals.
· Second Half Plays Worth Watching: @ 37:40 Mitchell chews out Welch after some poor shot selection, and CBS shows the problems that South Carolina’s guards are having.
@ 39:19- 39:50: South Carolina’s Watson follows a Mott put-back dunk with a sweet reverse layup.
@ 41:30-41:45: Mott effectively works the offensive board for a nice basket.
@ 42:10-42:30: Stack flashes to the free throw line and hits a nice jumper for his seventh point already in the second half. He follows with great pressure at half-court, forcing a turnover. Stack has been South Carolina’s best player.
@ 44:00-44:06: Brockington hits a tough pull-up jumper on the baseline to keep Coppin State in the game.
@ 45:33-46:03: McKie hits a nice jumper over Singletary, who comes back right away and hits a shot in the lane. This shot will get Singletary rolling.
@ 49:26: The physical Mott is called for an offensive foul after stiff arming a South Carolina player.
@ 50:00-51:00: Coppin State’s Welch and South Carolina’s Watson make nice baskets, respectively, as the teams are starting to go at each other.
@ 52:35-53:12: Mott and the Eagles are gaining momentum!
@ 54:25: Watson keeps South Carolina in the lead with a controversial and-one
@ 55:09-57:05: Singletary starts to take over with a big step-in jumper after a Brockington miss. Mott follows with a block that propels a fast break and foul of Brockington. Coppin State leads for the first time in forever, 53-52, actually for the first time since it was 6-4 after Brockington makes two free throws.
@ 58:25: Mott picks up a debatable offensive foul, which is his fourth of the game. South Carolina leads 54-53 with seven minutes to go.
@ 59:52-1:00:02: Singletary hits another cold-blooded jumper to put Coppin State up one.
@ 39:19- 39:50: South Carolina’s Watson follows a Mott put-back dunk with a sweet reverse layup.
@ 41:30-41:45: Mott effectively works the offensive board for a nice basket.
@ 42:10-42:30: Stack flashes to the free throw line and hits a nice jumper for his seventh point already in the second half. He follows with great pressure at half-court, forcing a turnover. Stack has been South Carolina’s best player.
@ 44:00-44:06: Brockington hits a tough pull-up jumper on the baseline to keep Coppin State in the game.
@ 45:33-46:03: McKie hits a nice jumper over Singletary, who comes back right away and hits a shot in the lane. This shot will get Singletary rolling.
@ 49:26: The physical Mott is called for an offensive foul after stiff arming a South Carolina player.
@ 50:00-51:00: Coppin State’s Welch and South Carolina’s Watson make nice baskets, respectively, as the teams are starting to go at each other.
@ 52:35-53:12: Mott and the Eagles are gaining momentum!
@ 54:25: Watson keeps South Carolina in the lead with a controversial and-one
@ 55:09-57:05: Singletary starts to take over with a big step-in jumper after a Brockington miss. Mott follows with a block that propels a fast break and foul of Brockington. Coppin State leads for the first time in forever, 53-52, actually for the first time since it was 6-4 after Brockington makes two free throws.
@ 58:25: Mott picks up a debatable offensive foul, which is his fourth of the game. South Carolina leads 54-53 with seven minutes to go.
@ 59:52-1:00:02: Singletary hits another cold-blooded jumper to put Coppin State up one.
· What You Should Watch in 2017: Here is the defining stretch of the game.
@ 1:00:58-1:01:50: Coppin State’s Singletary misses a three. Welch gets the offensive board but has his shot blocked by Stack. Brockington hustles down the ball, drives the lane, and gets caught in the air before making a beautiful wrap-around pass to big man Kareem Lewis for a layup. Coppin State leads 57-56. After a McKie and-one, Singletary goes to work again.
@ 1:02:28 – 1:03:15: Late in the shot clock, Singletary uses a crafty crossover to get into the lane and throw up a floater that hits rim and drops. After a South Carolina turnover, Singletary draws a foul on Watson and hits two free throws.
@ 1:04:57-1:05:39: Coppin State gets a 3-point play on a beautiful pass from Lewis to Warrick, cutting baseline, for a layup plus the foul. Warrick hits the free throw and Coppin State leads 64-56 at the under-four.
After the under-4 timeout, Coppin State puts the game away, with Singletary going to work some more.
@ 1:12:20-1:12:40: Singletary puts the game away with a three and a steal.
@ 1:19:17: Gorman sums up the upset with the following: “No bigger win in Coppin State history.”
· Player You Should Watch in 2017: From Paterson, New Jersey, Coppin State point guard Danny Singletary took over this game in the final 10 minutes of the second half. The lefty with a game similar to New York City’s Kenny Anderson got hot in the second half, scoring 19 of his 22 points. Singletary was 5-of-6 from the field in this game. Apparently, he was also an all-conference baseball player.
· What Stood Out During This Watch: Here are some things that stood out to me during the review.
□ Coppin State was a hot team. The Eagles had won 17 out of its last 18 games, including two MEAC tournament games in overtime. Coppin State was also a prepared team, having played at Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas State and Illinois in 1996-1997.
□ Coppin State’s matchup zone caused problems for South Carolina all night long. The Gamecocks could not get any rhythm going. Second-leading scorer Larry Davis (2 points) did not score his first field goal until @1:13:10-1:13:20 when the game was already over. McKie and Watson had 16 points and 13 points, respectively, though they did not have the most efficient games.
□ Stack and the South Carolina bench were bright spots. Stack had 13 points and probably needed more touches. I was surprised to see that Stack actually played 43 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the parts of two seasons. He was the only NBA player in this game.
□ Coppin State was the tougher team, grabbing 39 rebounds to South Carolina’s 10 boards. Welch had 15 boards while Mott added 11.
□ While pulling the upset, Coppin State hit a grand total of…2 three pointers!
□ Coppin State was made up some hard-nosed players, with Brockington (20 points ), Mott (11 points), Welch (7 points) and especially Singletary standing out. As for Mitchell, he was also a tough nut, as well as an entertaining character on the sidelines.
□ South Carolina Head Coach Eddie Fogler was calm throughout this game. He wore a look as if it was just one of those games for his team. While I knew Fogler as the head coach at South Carolina and an assistant for Dean Smith at North Carolina during Michael Jordan’s time there, I did not realized that he also coached Wichita State and Vanderbilt, taking both schools to the NCAA Tournament.
After This Watch: Coppin State would lose an 82-81 nail biter to No. 10 seed Texas in the second round. South Carolina would earn a No. 3 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament but suffer another first-round heartbreaker, losing 62-61 to a Canisius team coached by none other than John Beilein.
· Related Watches: In celebration of this historic upset, here are the YouTube links to the seven other times a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed.
@ 1:00:58-1:01:50: Coppin State’s Singletary misses a three. Welch gets the offensive board but has his shot blocked by Stack. Brockington hustles down the ball, drives the lane, and gets caught in the air before making a beautiful wrap-around pass to big man Kareem Lewis for a layup. Coppin State leads 57-56. After a McKie and-one, Singletary goes to work again.
@ 1:02:28 – 1:03:15: Late in the shot clock, Singletary uses a crafty crossover to get into the lane and throw up a floater that hits rim and drops. After a South Carolina turnover, Singletary draws a foul on Watson and hits two free throws.
@ 1:04:57-1:05:39: Coppin State gets a 3-point play on a beautiful pass from Lewis to Warrick, cutting baseline, for a layup plus the foul. Warrick hits the free throw and Coppin State leads 64-56 at the under-four.
After the under-4 timeout, Coppin State puts the game away, with Singletary going to work some more.
@ 1:12:20-1:12:40: Singletary puts the game away with a three and a steal.
@ 1:19:17: Gorman sums up the upset with the following: “No bigger win in Coppin State history.”
· Player You Should Watch in 2017: From Paterson, New Jersey, Coppin State point guard Danny Singletary took over this game in the final 10 minutes of the second half. The lefty with a game similar to New York City’s Kenny Anderson got hot in the second half, scoring 19 of his 22 points. Singletary was 5-of-6 from the field in this game. Apparently, he was also an all-conference baseball player.
· What Stood Out During This Watch: Here are some things that stood out to me during the review.
□ Coppin State was a hot team. The Eagles had won 17 out of its last 18 games, including two MEAC tournament games in overtime. Coppin State was also a prepared team, having played at Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas State and Illinois in 1996-1997.
□ Coppin State’s matchup zone caused problems for South Carolina all night long. The Gamecocks could not get any rhythm going. Second-leading scorer Larry Davis (2 points) did not score his first field goal until @1:13:10-1:13:20 when the game was already over. McKie and Watson had 16 points and 13 points, respectively, though they did not have the most efficient games.
□ Stack and the South Carolina bench were bright spots. Stack had 13 points and probably needed more touches. I was surprised to see that Stack actually played 43 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the parts of two seasons. He was the only NBA player in this game.
□ Coppin State was the tougher team, grabbing 39 rebounds to South Carolina’s 10 boards. Welch had 15 boards while Mott added 11.
□ While pulling the upset, Coppin State hit a grand total of…2 three pointers!
□ Coppin State was made up some hard-nosed players, with Brockington (20 points ), Mott (11 points), Welch (7 points) and especially Singletary standing out. As for Mitchell, he was also a tough nut, as well as an entertaining character on the sidelines.
□ South Carolina Head Coach Eddie Fogler was calm throughout this game. He wore a look as if it was just one of those games for his team. While I knew Fogler as the head coach at South Carolina and an assistant for Dean Smith at North Carolina during Michael Jordan’s time there, I did not realized that he also coached Wichita State and Vanderbilt, taking both schools to the NCAA Tournament.
After This Watch: Coppin State would lose an 82-81 nail biter to No. 10 seed Texas in the second round. South Carolina would earn a No. 3 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament but suffer another first-round heartbreaker, losing 62-61 to a Canisius team coached by none other than John Beilein.
· Related Watches: In celebration of this historic upset, here are the YouTube links to the seven other times a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed.
1991: Richmond defeated Syracuse 73-69
1993: Santa Clara defeated Arizona 64-61
2001: Hampton defeated Iowa State 58-57
2012: Norfolk State beat Missouri 86-84
2012: Lehigh beat Duke 75-70
2013: Florida Gulf Coast defeats Georgetown 78-68
2016: Middle Tennessee State defeats Michigan State 90-81