Who is Max Abs? What to know about Ohio State’s key player in Oral Roberts’ upset

March Madness, Meet Max Abasam.

Oral Roberts’ 6-1, 165-pound sophomore guard helped lead the 2-seed Ohio State’s unbelievably 15-seed Golden Eagles in the first round of the 20 -21 NCAA Tournament. He scored 29 points on 24-of-10 shooting (5 out of 10 from 3-point land), caught five rebels and had three assists in a 75–72 overtime win.

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At first glance, Abbas might look like a player who stepped on the stage at the perfect time and on the biggest stage. But he has been verbally effective on Roberts regularly during his two years, and his Friday drama was only the latest example of such.

MORE: History of 15-vs-2 upsets, stats for NCAA Tournament

Everything you need to know about Abbas, which helps give Oral Roberts at least one more competition in the NCAA tournament:

Abs’ last name is’ ACE-miss’

You might be tempted to pronounce Abbas’ name as “Abbey-Mas”, but it’s actually declared “ACE-Miss” – not a bad name, given his prologue to big-time shots. Seeing it.

Abmas leads all Division I players in points per game

Abs’s 29-point outburst was great on Friday, but it wasn’t the first time he had scored in a bunch. Entering the NCAA tournament, Abamas led all Division I players with 24.4 points per game. Luca Garza of Iowa, 2021 Sporting News Player of the Year, averaged 23.7. Abamas also finished third in total points before the tournament with 609, behind only LSU’s Cameron Thomas (611) and Garza (687).

He also hit several 3-pointers in at least 21 games, including at least four in 13 games.

Abs has played well against big opponents before.

Don’t dodge the Golden Eagles Summit League competition, in which the Abs compiled their stats against substandard competition: They also played big games against NCAA tournament teams Missouri (18 points), Wichita State (29), Oklahoma State (36). Oklahoma (20). All of those games resulted in losses.

How did Abs end on Verbal Roberts?

At rivalry.com, Abamas received only four scholarship offers: Air Force, Army, Navy and, of course, Verbal Roberts. The product of the Jesuit Dallas High School in Texas ended up going to a private Christian university in Oklahoma, where he Majors in biomedical chemistry.