Jack Gohlke, Oakland basketball stun Kentucky in NCAA ...

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Greg Kampe on Oakland's March Madness upset win over Kentucky

Greg Kampe also addressed John Calipari's "gracious" comments following their NCAA Tournament game.

PITTSBURGH — In the city of black and yellow, the team wearing black and gold made memories for a lifetime.

The 14-seed Oakland pulled off what is sure to be the upset of March Madness as it stunned 3-seed Kentucky 80-76 at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday for the program’s second-ever NCAA tournament victory; the crowning achievement in year 40 under Greg Kampe, the nation’s longest tenured coach.

To the pleasant surprise of many, the Golden Grizzlies’ season is not over; they will play the winner of 6-seed Texas Tech and 11-seed N.C. State on Saturday for a shot to go to the Sweet 16.

They can thank Jack Gohlke for that, whose performance will go down as among the greatest of any on the biggest stage of sport. The Hillsdale College transfer senior made 10 3-pointers, the tournament record is 11, and scored 32 points.

Horizon League MVP Trey Townsend also had a monster performance, he finished with a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double.

More: How many 14 seeds have upset 3 seeds? History of first-round upsets after Oakland upsets Kentucky

Oakland starts slow, Gohlke heats up

They Golden Grizzlies seemed nervous at the games start, missing their first seven shots from the field until DQ Cole buried a 3-pointer from the left corner more than 3 minutes in.

However OU would miss its next two shots from the floor before the media timeout, beginning 1 of 10 from the floor. Its saving grace was Kentucky's 2 of 6 start with two turnovers.

Oakland's cold shooting would continue, as it missed its next three shots from the floor, however it got all three offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive before Rocket Watts hit a mid-range jumper to take the lead.

The Grizzlies cold shooting extended to a 2 for 16 start, until Gohlke got the offense going when he buried consecutive 3-pointers, the first from the left corner, the next off a curl from the left wing to give Oakland an 11-9 lead.

After a pair of UK buckets put the Cats back up two, Gohlke really caught fire. The Hillsdale College transfer made his third long ball of the half to put the Grizzlies up three. On the next possession, he drilled yet another long ball before he let out a scream and shot an imaginary arrow directly at the Oakland contingent of fans court-side.

Kentucky responded with four straight points to get back within two, when Gohlke nailed his fifth long ball of the half, again coming off a screen from the left side of the court, before he stuck his tongue out and shrugged his shoulders when he ran back down court with OU leading, 22-17.

That's when UK's future first round pick Antonio Reeves got going. After making a back-door layup, he drilled a pair of 3-pointers, but in between them Gohlke would drill his sixth 3-pointer from the right wing.

Blake Lampman finally got on the board with a long ball of his own, then after a 7-2 UK push gave the Cats a two-point lead in the final two minutes, Gohlke continued his magical night when he banked in a 3-pointer to put OU up, 36-35.

Rocket Watts, the former Michigan State guard, knocked down an elbow jumper from the left side to end the scoring and give UK a 38-35 lead at the break.

Kentucky shot 41% from the floor (11 of 27) and was just 3 of 11 from long range. Though Oakland shot 37% (14 of 38), it was 45% from long range (9 of 20) and got 11 more shots off than the Wildcats in the first half thanks to 10 offensive rebounds.

Second half

Kentucky opened the second half with a thunderous lob to Aaron Bradshaw and while Townsend got one back on the other end with a free throw, Ugonna Onyenso converted an and-1 down low to give the Wildcats the lead.

It only lasted a moment, before Townsend hit a turnaround, then Chris Conway connected on a floater to go up three, only for a Justin Edwards three-point play to tie the game up, 43-43, with 16:20 to play.

Right when Kentucky seemed to start to grab the momentum, a Reeves floater gave UK a 45-43 lead and brought Big Blue Nation to its feet, Townsend followed with a 3-pointer from the left side and then you guessed it, Gohlke canned his eighth of the half to put Oakland up, 49-45.

As soon as UK trimmed that lead in half, Gohlke nailed his ninth 3-pointer of the game, fading away in front of his own bench, and that's the moment the Grizzlies turned to one another as though it could really happen.

The game was 53-50 moments later when the Wildcats missed a dunk attempt on one end and then Townsend finished after a pump fake to go up five. Kentucky got back within three, before Watts made a midrange jumper and pair of free throws to put Oakland up seven, its largest lead of the game.

Kentucky would get back within two, 61-59, after an offensive rebound led to a Reeves 3-pointer, but Cole would calmly knock down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead back to five.

Projected lottery pick Reed Sheppard responded with his first 3-pointer of the game to once again get within two, but Gohlke wouldn't be denied. After a Cole offensive rebound, Gohlke drilled his career-high tying 10th 3-pointer of the night to go up five.