A wild day of upsets continued in college basketball as Teddy Allen poured in 37 points to help New Mexico State stun UCONN in March Madness.
The first full day of March Madness began with an upset and the drama is ratcheting up as another double-digit seed has moved on. New Mexico State rode a 37-point outburst from Teddy Allen to pull a 5-12 upset over UCONN in Buffalo to pick up their first NCAA Tournament win since 1992.
Allen dominated the Huskies all night long, pouring in 37 points on 10-of-24 shooting with four three-pointers. UCONN simply had no answer for Allen, who also got to the free-throw line 13 times and nailed all 13 of his shots from the charity stripe to help ice this game.
The end result is very disappointing for the Huskies, who looked to be peaking in the Big East Tournament but were bounced in the Round of 64 for the second straight year under Dan Hurley.
College basketball media reacts to New Mexico State’s win
Teddy Allen just made the NCAA Tournament his own personal sanctuary.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 18, 2022
A 37-point effort as New Mexico State tops UConn.
Another 12/5 upset.
Anarchy?
Nope. Just College Basketball.
Teddy Allen: 37 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists -- leads 12-seed New Mexico State to the win over 5-seed UConn. Incredible performance.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 18, 2022
Teddy Allen writes his name into March Madness lore with a 37-point performance in the first round as New Mexico State takes down UConn. As Dan Hurley stated, he's a "bucket."
— Lukas Harkins (@hardwiredsports) March 18, 2022
Teddy Allen of @NMStateMBB is the first player ever to score at least half of his team's points and make all of his team's free throws in an NCAA Tournament game.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) March 18, 2022
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1504626714655145984?s=20&t=D9ZTxBhze_B7y_tR2dV_ZQ
Bracket update for New Mexico State
The win was the second big upset in Buffalo on the day after Richmond, another 12-seed, knocked off 5-seed Iowa earlier in the afternoon. New Mexico State is now awaiting the winner of the next game at KeyBank Center in the West Region between Arkansas and Vermont.
The Razorbacks are the No. 4 seed in the region and favored to advance but taking down Vermont won’t be easy. The Catamounts play an up-tempo style of basketball reminiscent of Colgate, who gave Arkansas a lot of trouble in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Head coach Chris Jans will likely need another epic performance from Allen if the Aggies hope to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1992. The odds of that would increase dramatically if the Razorbacks are eliminated in a few hours.
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