Norfolk State Basketball

Even though Norfolk State's NCAA tournament ended after just one game with a 95-69 loss to Florida on Friday, head coach Robert Jones was able to find a silver lining.

During his postgame press conference, Jones joked that his team proved they didn't deserve to be as big of an underdog as they were going into the game because they covered the point spread.

When the matchups were first announced on Sunday, the Gators were favored by 27.5 points.

Jones was clearly made aware of the spread because he told reporters on Thursday that he was angry to see Norfolk State as that big of an underdog.

"I know Florida's really, really good, and they run a great program, got great players, but are we that bad that the point spread is like that?" Jones said. "I'm a little angry, and like I said, I'm a little bit more focused and play better when I'm angry. ... I think the players play better when they're angry."

If it's any consolation to Jones, his team had the lowest point spread among the four No. 16 seeds in the field. SIU Edwardsville was a 29.5-point underdog to Houston.

Duke was favored by 32 points over Mount St. Mary's. Auburn entered its matchup with South Alabama with minus-31.5 odds.

The Spartans also had the second-smallest margin of defeat among the 16 seeds. Alabama State only lost by 20 to Auburn.

Despite the difficult end to this season, Jones can take comfort in the job he has done building up Norfolk State. He has led the program to four consecutive 20-win seasons and three tournament appearances in the past five years since being hired in 2013.

Prior to Jones' initial hiring as interim head coach, the Spartans had just one tournament appearance and two 20-win seasons in 16 years as a Division I program dating back to 1997.

Norfolk State pulled off one of the memorable upsets in NCAA Tournament history when they defeated Missouri 86-84 on Friday. That's the last memorable moment they will produce from the 2012 NCAA Tournament, however.

Norfolk State's run will end against Florida in the Round of 32 on Sunday. Here's why:

It's Already a Successful Tournament for Norfolk State

Norfolk State's star player Kyle O'Quinn even admitted that beating Missouri was "overtime" after he told his coaches he would deliver a championship in conference.

He also admitted that this upset of No. 2 was highly unlikely. He's just speaking the truth but he's right—he was working overtime.

It seems like no matter what happens against Florida, the Spartans already had a successful tournament.

Florida, meanwhile, is out to win a championship.

Shooting Percentage

Norfolk State was an awful offensive team in 2011-12. They were 149th in points per game with 69 per game and 132nd in field goal percentage at 44.3 percent. They scored 86 points on 54.2 percent and 52.6 percent from beyond the arc.

There is a high probability that the Spartans come down to earth.

We Know about the Spartans Now

Maybe two percent of brackets across the world picked Norfolk State to upset Missouri. Few knew that they had players capable of pulling it off. Now everybody knows, especially Florida.

Florida understands what they're going up against on Sunday. They will be ready.

Florida is More Well-Rounded than Missouri

Missouri might have defeated Florida in the third round had that been the matchup, but I would have given the Seminoles a great shot of pulling off the upset. 

Florida scores 76.3 points per game and holds teams to 65.4 points per game. Defensively is where the Spartans will see the biggest difference. Florida is the second-best defensive team in the SEC in terms of points allowed.

Kenny Boynton, Erving Walker, Bradley Beal, Patric Young and others have enough talent to overcome their size mismatches.

You Can Trust Billy Donovan

Frank Haith is a great coach, but he's no Billy Donovan. Haith was in his first year as head coach of Missouri, and he's only made one previous NCAA Tournament.

Donovan has won two national championships, made three Final Fours and has won more than 400 games as a coach.

He'll have something prepared to throw Norfolk State off their rhythm.

Florida, set your upset alerts to code red, because the Spartans of Norfolk State are ready for battle.

America's favorite No. 15 seed (sorry, Lehigh) is riding a title wave of momentum into the Round of 32. The MEAC champs stunned No. 2 Missouri on Friday, shattering brackets all over the country with one inspired performance.

Any doubts about their competitiveness and skill level were dismissed immediately as they went toe-to-toe with a Final Four-caliber team. The two teams traded blows all game long before Norfolk State delivered the knockout in the waning seconds.

Now, the Spartans are ready to take down the Gators in Omaha.

Of course, it certainly won't be easy. Florida, the seventh seed in the West region, has a potent offense fueled by exceptional talent in the backcourt. In the Round of 64, they made a scrappy Virginia team look like a bunch of high school freshmen.

So why am I picking Norfolk State to continue their magical run? Just scroll down and find out.

5. Ball Security

The Spartans proved on Friday that they can handle pressure on the perimeter.

Missouri's in-your-face defense flustered teams all year long, but the guards of Norfolk State were unfazed. Pendarvis Williams, Rodney McCauley and Chris McEachin protected the ball beautifully, committing just three combined turnovers in the game.

If they can handle the defensive intensity of Bradley Beal, Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, the Spartans will advance to the Sweet 16.

4. Florida's Reliance on Threes

Like Missouri, the guard-centric Gators live and die with the three ball. They managed to survive a 4-for-23 effort from downtown against Virginia, but they won't have the same luck against the Spartans.

In the Round of 64, they made up for their awful outside shooting by hitting 22-of-27 shots in the paint. But with Norfolk State's solid interior defense, Florida will have a much tougher time scoring inside. 

I'm sure the Gators will hit more than four three-pointers today, but if the Spartans can hold them to eight or nine buckets from deep, they'll be in prime position to notch the win.

3. Multiple Scorers

While many mid-majors are reliant on one great scorer, the Spartans have multiple guys who can explode on a given night.

Kyle O'Quinn, Pendarvis Williams and Chris McEachin all average at least 12 points per game. Against Missouri, the Spartan's Big Three took their play to another level, combining for 66 points on 24-of-39 shooting.

With their size and skill sets, the three should cause major problems for Florida's defense. O'Quinn is dominant inside, while Williams and McEachin can rain threes like it ain't no thang.

Look for at least two of them to drop 20-plus points today.

2. No Pressure

As they showed against Missouri, the Spartans are having fun on the court. They're enjoying their underdog role, playing a loose and confident style.

Yes, they're here to take care of business. But they also realize that virtually no one expected them to be contending for a Sweet 16 spot. Look for them to come out calm and collected.

On the flip-side, Florida is now dealing with some unexpected pressure. Instead of playing the underdog role themselves, they now have some undesirable historical implications over their heads.

Nobody wants to be the first team to let a 15 seed advance to the Sweet 16. If the game is close in the final minutes, you can bet that thought will be clouding the minds of the Gators.

1. Kyle O'Quinn

Although he was relatively unknown before the tournament, the MEAC is very familiar with O'Quinn's ability.

The charismatic big man has been dominant this year, averaging 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He's already posted 20 double-doubles in his season, and against Florida's thin front line, don't be surprised if he adds another today.

Against Missouri, O'Quinn showed off his flair for the dramatic. He dropped 26 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, made a few clutch hustle plays and gave one of the best post-game interviews in recent memory.

I'm expecting him to add to his resume today by leading the Spartans to their first Sweet 16 appearance in school history.

While a No. 15 seed taking down a No. 2 seed is a tough feat and one that happens rarely, Norfolk State's upset of Missouri on Friday was not entirely surprising, and the Spartans are prepared to go even further in this tournament.

The knock on Missouri entering the NCAA tournament was that the Tigers are a moderately short team with athletic builds that can run the floor. Given a matchup against a larger team, the upset could happen, which is what the Tigers found out on Friday.

Norfolk State was clearly the better team because it was the bigger and more physical team the entire game.

The Spartans' best player is 6'10" forward Kyle O'Quinn, and the Tigers has no answer for him. O'Quinn had 26 points and 14 rebounds in the upset.

The Spartans also have a supporting cast of three 6'6" players, with their smallest starter measuring 6'5" tall.

Safe to say, when the game became won or lost in the paint, Norfolk State had the upper hand and used that to its advantage late in the game when it needed it.

The rest of the Spartans' schedule looks very favorable as well.

They are set to match up on Sunday with a guard-heavy Florida team that played well against Virginia.

If they can get past a brutal Gator attack of guards, they are sure to match up well with either Marquette or Murray State in the Sweet 16 because of that height factor.  

Given that height and athleticism that we saw against Missouri, we should not be surprised to see this team become the Cinderella of the tournament and take on a team like Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

Don't write off the Norfolk State Spartans, as they are going to make it to the Sweet 16.

The Spartans killed most fans' brackets when they upset the second-seeded Missouri Tigers. It was the first of two upsets of a No. 15 beating a No. 2.

Most fans probably believe that Norfolk State had its fun already and will be dispatched by the Florida Gators in the third round.

However, the shoe's going to fit on this Cinderella for a little while longer.

Norfolk State is a team that is pretty hot right now. In a knockout tournament, it's all about getting hot at the right time. Taking into account their upset of Missouri, the Spartans have won their last eight games and nine of their last 10 games.

Conversely, the Gators have lost four of their last six games, although they did dominate Virginia.

As with any lower-ranked team, Norfolk has absolutely no pressure or expectations on it. Some might think it pretty much already has won its own national championship by first making the tournament, then by upsetting Missouri.

This could really play into the Spartans' hands. You saw it against Missouri in the second round. When it comes to crunch time, they aren't going to be that intimidated because they don't have to carry the weight of expectations.

In addition, Norfolk State showed that it has in Kyle O'Quinn the kind of player who can carry the team. He scored 26 points and 14 rebounds against Missouri and averaged a double-double for the season.

Both he and fellow senior Chris McEachin are the kinds of players who give mid-majors an advantage over their higher-ranked counterparts. These teams have guys who've spent four years in college and are the unquestioned leaders of their teams.

That's something that a much better team historically might not have, as all its best players leave for the NBA after a couple of seasons.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time a group of Spartans defied the odds and survived much longer than anyone could have expected.

Usually, it doesn't take a brain to pick the No. 1-vs-16 and No. 2-vs-15 games in the NCAA tournament—this year, it was different.

Somehow, Missouri and Duke both fell short against Norfolk State and Lehigh, respectively, ending their NCAA tournament runs early. Norfolk upset Missouri by two points and Lehigh prevailed by five.

And both teams wrote a new chapter in the NCAA tournament book.

Lehigh and Duke went back and forth, trading leads and runs throughout the game. In the end, however, it was Lehigh who came out on top, moving on to the Round of 32 to face either Notre Dame or Xavier.

C.J. McCollum scored 30 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists in a huge game for the Mountain Hawks. When the Hawks needed a big shot, McCollum provided it.

Neither team had a significant advantage on the stat sheet, but in a game of runs, Lehigh had one at the best time. Both were trading leads, but with two minutes left, Lehigh grabbed a seven-point lead, forcing Duke to go into fouling mode.

Duke failed to put the game away at the free throw line earlier, and while they were clutch at the end, Lehigh made enough free throws to hold off the Blue Devils. Twice, the Mountain Hawks broke the press, and as a result, Jordan Hamilton and Gabe Knutson finished with dunks—which proved to be enough for Lehigh.

As a second seed, Duke was expected to cruise. Instead, they weren't able to outplay the Mountain Hawks, and when a team like Duke doesn't dominate the stat sheet against Lehigh, you know they're in trouble.

Duke turned the ball over eleven times, and Lehigh controlled the ball very well, losing the ball just seven times. Seth Curry, the brother of tourney hero Stephen Curry, made just one of nine shots from the field, and thanks to his and Austin Rivers' struggles (Rivers scored 19 and made just 5 of 14 shots), McCollum was able to shut down the guards and help Lehigh control the tempo.

In case you didn't know, controlling the tempo against Duke and the high-flying Plumlee brothers is crucial to Lehigh's success. However, what set Lehigh apart from Duke was their clutch ability.

About three and a half minutes remained, and Lehigh led by two. The Mountain Hawks took the ball up the court, and they were able to set up McCollum for an open three. He knocked the shot down, and after a John Adams dunk, Lehigh took control of the game and became one of six fifteen-seeds to win a tourney game.

Another one of those teams is Norfolk State.

Most predicted Missouri to run by Norfolk State and land in the Final Four, but Norfolk State had other plans. Kyle O'Quinn became the player every team needs to pull an upset, by scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Since the Tigers are mostly composed of talented guards, the Spartans had a size advantage. They used it wisely, out-rebounding Missouri 35-23, and 14 of those 35 were offensive rebounds.

O'Quinn controlled the boards and occupied the paint, and by getting second chances, the Spartans were able to stay in the game. With the score tied at 81, Kyle O'Quinn snatched an air-balled shot out of the air, and sent it flying off the backboard and into the hoop.

O'Quinn was fouled on the shot and made his free throw, which put the Spartans up by three. Missouri had a chance to win the game, but Phil Pressey's shot hit the back rim and bounced away, which gave Norfolk State the huge win.

Now, the first-time tourney team is headed for the Round of 32.

Three players on Norfolk State scored 20 or more, and the Spartans proved they could handle Missouri and their fast-paced basketball. Pendarvis Williams and Chris McEachin scored 20 points, and they held Marcus Denmon to 5-of-12 shooting.

More importantly, they held senior guard Kim English, who averaged about 15 points per game, to just two points.

Everyone assumed that Missouri's star guards would overpower Norfolk State's, but the Spartans came out strong, controlled the tempo, and got just enough from O'Quinn, Williams and McEachin to survive the Tigers.

Lehigh and Norfolk State had never won a tournament game, and no one expected that to change. But both teams believed, and they worked their magic.

And look what came out of that.