Cinderella Oakland spoils Tre Mitchell's Pittsburgh homecoming

PITTSBURGH - Kentucky may have felt like the home team in Pittsburgh for the start of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, but that didn't equate to an easy night in the Steel City for the Wildcats. 

While Pittsburgh natives Tre Mitchell and Adou Thiero accounted for a significant portion of Kentucky's early scoring, it was 14-seeded Oakland which held a lead through most of the first half. The half closed with Oakland up 38-35. 

The pressure then kept mounting with each basket by the Golden Grizzlies. And eventually, it was too little and too late for Kentucky, as Oakland showed why it doesn't matter who's the blue blood and who's the mid-major in March. 

Kentucky then started to embody the mentality their Hall of Fame head coach, John Calipari, another Pittsburgh native, referenced those from Western Pennsylvania always carry with them wherever they go during his media session on Wednesday.  

"Let me say this about Pittsburgh. When I grew up, it was a blue-collar town," Calipari said. "But it's never changed the roots of what Pittsburgh is and what it's all about." 

Mitchell strapped on his hard hat and muscled his way through traffic to chip away at the scoreboard, putting up a double-double. But Pittsburgh is also town that loves an underdog story and Oakland fit that bill.

Joining Mitchell to carry the way for Kentucky, Antonio Reeves led the Wildcats in scoring with 27 points on a mostly efficient night that saw him connect on 11-of-18 field goal attempts. Trey Townsend scored 16 and DQ Cole posted 12 points in the win. 

Kentucky's players may have had the better individual performances, but Oakland won the game as a true team. 

When asked how this loss compares to losing with West Virginia in the same round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Mitchell said he was "balling" last year, but this loss hurts even more because he's now part of an historic Cinderella story.  

As Oakland head coach Greg Kampe stated during his postgame news conference, though, his team is no Cinderella and feels they can hang with any team in the country. 

"We just win close games," Kampe said. "If we're ahead with six minutes to go, we will win the game." 

In March, the only thing that matters is surviving and advancing and that's exactly what Oakland did. 

And as shocking as it may sound, the Golden Grizzlies proved to be too much for the Wildcats to handle. 

With the win, it's Oakland which will now be able to enjoy another day in Pittsburgh before tipping off against North Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32 on Saturday.