One day after reportedly agreeing to hired as the next NC State basketball coach, the McNeese State coach led the Cowboys to a 69-67 upset in the first round of March Madness at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday.
Wade’s win against his alma mater marked the biggest upset of NCAA bracket so far, and the 55th time a No. 12 seed has upset a No. 5 seed in tournament history, according to NCAA.com.
‘We’ve made school history. We’ve never won a game. Didn’t have much history when we got there. We’ve broken almost every record,’ Wade told CBS Sports’ Evan Washburn after the game. ‘So proud for our guys, our university, our president, our athletic director. It’s incredible. This changes our university. This changes our university.’
The emotions of winning in March were on full display by Wade as the buzzer went off in the arena, as the 42-year-old coach immediately went to celebrate the win with fans in the stands.
McNeese State held Clemson to 13 first-half points and held off a late surge from the Tigers to prevail. McNeese led by 18 points at halftime. The Cowboys outperformed Clemson in virtually every statistical category, including shooting percentage (44% to 36%), rebounds (43 to 36), paint points (44 to 24) and bench points (35 to 5).
Wade is expected to be hired as NC State coach after the NCAA Tournament, according to multiple reports Wednesday. During his pregame news conference that same day, Wade acknowledged being contacted by NC State in the search to replace fired coach Kevin Keatts.
Wade and McNeese will face No. 4 seed Purdue in the second round of the tournament Saturday for a chance at the Sweet 16.
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