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Brandon Murray came off the bench to score a team-high 21 points, and 12th-seeded McNeese pulled off the first major upset of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating fifth-seeded Clemson 69-67 in a first-round Midwest Region matchup Thursday in Providence, R.I.

Quadir Copeland added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Cowboys (28-6), who advance to a second-round contest on Saturday against No. 4 Purdue, which knocked out High Point 75-63. Christian Shumate added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Sincere Parker contributed 12 points in a reserve role.

Jaeden Zackery scored a game-high 24 points and Chase Hunter added 21 — all in the final 10:02 — to pace the Tigers (27-7). But second-leading scorer Ian Schieffelin missed all four shots he tried from the field and finished with just one point, 11.8 below his average.

McNeese led by as many as 24 points with 16:14 left in the game, building the enormous lead thanks to a 15-0 advantage in points off turnovers during the first half and a 44-24 margin in points in the paint on the day.

Clemson rallied down the stretch, led by a spate of 3-pointers, but the Cowboys’ Javohn Garcia hit a crucial free throw to gain a four-point edge with 10.9 seconds left. Hunter’s putback at the buzzer wasn’t enough for the Tigers.

“It don’t got nothing to do with Clemson. We could have beat any team in here,” Copeland said. “It’s just amazing to win with these guys.”

If McNeese was distracted by the rumors that coach Will Wade is leaving to take over the NC State program, as reported earlier this week, it certainly didn’t show in the first half as the Cowboys dominated with defense.

Pressuring the ball, contesting nearly every shot and winning the rebounding battle against a big, strong opponent, the Cowboys forced 10 turnovers while limiting Clemson to 20.8 percent shooting. They also earned a 22-16 advantage on the glass.

“Our first half was flawless defensively,” Wade said. “We’ve been saving that zone all year. We haven’t played the 2-3 zone all year. … We hit all three of the benchmarks it takes to beat them.”

Meanwhile, Murray came off the bench to score 14 points, nearly double his average (7.1 ppg). Fittingly, he capped the half by canning a runner with 36 seconds left to give McNeese a stunning 31-13 halftime lead.

Before Thursday, the Tigers’ lowest-scoring first half was 24 points on Nov. 25 against San Francisco.

“We picked a tough day not to play our best,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “I didn’t do a very good job with my guys and we weren’t really prepared for the zone to man. Their athleticism and quickness inside was certainly a factor.”

–Field Level Media