12th Seeded McNeese State Upsets #5 Clemson as NCAA Tournament Gets Underway

It seems like every NCAA basketball tournament features a 12 seed upsetting a five seed. The numbers support this; going into this year’s tournament, 12th seeded teams have beaten fives 55 times out of 156 games.

Now there’s one more. The 12th seeded McNeese Cowboys upset the #5 Clemson Tigers 69-67 in the first 12/5 matchup of the tournament. The Lake Charles, Louisiana based school is making its fourth NCAA appearance after winning the Southland Conference. This was the school’s first tournament victory. Brandon Murray came off the bench to lead McNeese with 21 points. Quadir Copeland scored 16 and Christian Shumate had a double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.