Sweetest 16th
No. 16 seed beats No. 1 seed for first time in NCAA tourney history
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It finally happened. A 16th seed ousted a No. 1 seed in the spectacle known as March Madness.
The University of Maryland-baltimore County stunned the college basketball world by pulling off the most shocking upset in NCAA Tournament history, hammering Virginia 75-54 on Friday night in the South Regional. In doing so the Retrievers become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed.
Virginia entered the Tournament as the overall favorite after going 31-2, including 20-1 in ACC competition.
And really, who is Maryland-baltimore County — aka UMBC — anyway? Mostly, it’s a team experts and fans glanced over. Did anyone really pencil in the Retrievers as winners Friday night when they filled out their NCAA bracket?
But UMBC didn’t just beat Virginia. It dominated throughout the second half. Senior guard Jairus Lyles scored 28 points and the Retreivers cruised, racing off the floor together in their yellow-and-black uniforms with one
SWEET
finger pointed toward the sky.
“These are the moments that you dream of,” Lyles said.
Chaminade’s 77-72 stunner over Ralph Sampson and then No. 1-ranked Cavaliers in 1982 in Hawaii was generally considered the most remarkable upset in college basketball. But that was the regular season.
This came when it mattered the most — in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers couldn’t get anything generated on offense and the nation’s top-ranked defense couldn’t contain the American East Conference champions who won their conference tournament at the buzzer.
“Unbelievable. It’s really all you can say,” UMBC coach Ryan Odom said.
The 74 points were the most Virginia had allowed this year. Virginia had allowed foes an average of 54.3 points this season, ranking as the best defensive team in the nation. But it couldn’t handle Lyles. He diced up Virginia’s defense in the second half, getting to the hole easily on six different occasions and making easy layups. He also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as UMBC built a 16-point lead.
Lyles finished with 23 of his points in the second half and Joe Sherburne finished with 14 points.
The game was tied at halftime, but the Retrievers came out confident and motivated in the second half and built a double-digit lead that Virginia could never erase.
Sherburne was huge early in the second half and made believers out of everyone.
He scored on a drive and then
knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key after a behindthe-back pass from KJ Maura. After Virginia made a free throw, the shifty 5-foot-8, 140-pound Maura drove the lane for uncontested layup.
A timeout by Virginia coach Tony Bennett couldn’t stop the bleeding, as Lyles hit two more 3s and Sherburne hit one more to extend UMBC’S lead to 14 with 14:57 left.
Lyles was fouled on a 3-point shot, and suddenly the Retrievers led by 16.
A corner 3-pointer and a layups off a fastbreak by Arkel Lamer gave UMBC its biggest lead at 67-48. From there, the party was on as chants of “UMBC” rang through the arena.
For the Cavaliers, it was yet another early exit from a season that seemed to hold so much promise.
“We got our butts whipped, that was not even close,” Bennet said, adding later: “A lot of people don’t understand that. When you step into the arena and you’re in the arena, consequences can be historic losses, tough losses, great wins, and you have to deal with it. That’s the job.
“But we got thoroughly outplayed, did not play well … I don’t know what to say, but that was a thorough butt-whippin’.”