Best Game of the Round of 64: Georgia State vs. Baylor

By Drake Weissman

As an introduction, I would just like to say my bracket is worse than my mother’s tuna casserole. As of right now, I am in the 4.3 percentile and I have not correctly picked a single upset. So, it was not a surprise when I incorrectly chose Baylor to beat Georgia State in this opening round matchup.

Now, let me tell you why this game was so special. First off, Kevin Ware is on Georgia State. For those of you that don’t know who he is (and who therefore have not lived on this planet for the last two years), he’s this dude from Louisville that suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in sports history and provided moral support from the sidelines as the Cardinals went on to win the national title in 2013. So, his reappearance into the NCAA tournament was a cinderella story on its own. Also, it is important to note that although Ware was injured, this wasn’t a pity move by Georgia State; Ware was voted MVP of the Sun Belt Conference tournament and was responsible for leading his team to the national tournament.

Next, this game was amazing because of the Hunter family. As a result of post-game celebrations, you have coach Ron Hunter sitting in a chair with a cast on his leg because of a torn achilles. The team’s leading scorer, R.J. Hunter, is the coach’s son and the main reason the team was able to pull off the upset. According to research by Stephen Pettigrew, while down 12 points with 2:39 left to play, Georgia State had a .38 percent chance of pulling off the upset. However, heroics from Hunter, including multiple threes — none bigger than the last one — allowed Georgia State, a 14 seed, to triumph against Baylor. Notice his father’s reaction.