Minnesota vs. Middle Tennessee: Score and Reaction from March Madness 2017

One year removed from a Cinderella-story upset of a second seed, No. 12 Middle Tennessee assumed the status again by breezing past No. 5 Minnesota 81-72 in Thursday's South Region battle at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A sloppy, foul-riddled first half in which Middle Tennessee emerged ahead gave way to a second frame defined by runs. Minnesota couldn't get out of its own way, with star center Reggie Lynch committing three fouls in just one minute, 18 seconds of game time, per the TNT broadcast, changing the complexion of the contest.

Led by Reggie Upshaw's 19 points, nine different Blue Raiders scored. Four went for double digits, and a suffocating zone slowed the Golden Gophers to 46.2 percent shooting from the floor while losing the battle on the glass 37-24.

Lynch finished with eight points, as the burden of production fell on Jordan Murphy, who scored 15. Nate Mason, who led the team in scoring during the regular season at 15.5 points per game, went scoreless in the first half and finished with five points and four turnovers.

The Twitterverse went on to throw out some noteworthy numbers that should have fans with brackets featuring a deep run by the Blue Raiders feeling great:

"

Middle Tennessee was 6-1 vs the KenPom Tier A/B, yet would've had no chance at an at-large bid because they didn't have the RPI peripherals.

— Jeff (BPredict) (@BPredict) March 16, 2017"

The similarities between the sides going into the contest, at least, were hard to ignore. Middle Tennessee built on the upset a year ago and brought a 10-game winning streak to Milwaukee while ranked 35th in RPI at ESPN.com. Minnesota ranked 21st and was arguably the nation's best turnaround story after just eight wins last season.

The two couldn't have looked more different after tipoff, though.

A battle between a small-ball lineup and Minnesota's monster frontcourt started in the Golden Gophers' favor thanks to Lynch, who found himself altering Middle Tennessee's first four shots and sending one into the stands:

Lynch, though, fell into foul trouble, opening the door for a quick comeback by the Blue Raiders. Compared to the highlight above, notice a difference with Lynch off the court?

The Blue Raiders bounced back from an early 7-0 hole to take a 37-31 lead into halftime. Minnesota lost its identity in the process, jacking up ill-advised shots from deep, going 3-of-13, finishing the game 6-of-21.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Beller pointed out where Minnesota had problems:

Little changed in the second half. Lynch didn't last a minute before committing his third foul, and the Blue Raiders jumped out to a 15-point advantage, cruising with supreme ball movement and taking advantage of poor body language and lapses by the Golden Gophers.

In short, the No. 12 seed looked like the No. 5 and vice versa. NCAA March Madness showed the carnage:

Minnesota started to show signs of life again after the halfway point of the second half, hitting on a 15-3 run to pull closer, yet Upshaw decided to play tournament hero again by rattling off eight consecutive points.

Minnesota? It went more than three minutes without a point, and head coach Richard Pitino received a technical foul.

Normally a March Madness upset is a nail-biter down the stretch. Not this time—Upshaw proved to be the finisher once again, adding nine boards to his 19 points, four of them timely and on the offensive end.

Next, Middle Tennessee has a short turnaround ahead of an encounter with fourth-seeded Butler, a team that shot 49 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from deep in a 76-64 dismissal of No. 13 Winthrop on Thursday.

Postgame Reaction

After the game, Upshaw and the Blue Raiders were the biggest attraction.

Upshaw credited the defensive approach for the upset, according to Nadine Babu of GopherHole.com: "The 1-3-1 was probably the reason we won today, it threw off their guards, it threw off Mason."

Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis echoed these sentiments and more, per Babu:

As for Pitino, he took a forward-looking approach to the loss, as captured by Chris Carr of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

According to Babu, Pitino revealed Mason hurt his hip, explaining the off day: "He hurt his hip, I don't know when he did it, he was trying to fight through it."

Stats and information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified. Advanced metrics courtesy of ESPN.com.