Retrievers make history with 20-point first-round win
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Virginia was on the wrong end of the most improbable upset in men’s college basketball history Friday night, falling to Maryland-Baltimore County, 74-54, to become the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 in the NCAA tournament.
No. 16 seeds had lost their previous 135 games to No. 1’s since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The Retrievers ended the streak in the South Region at Spectrum Center, and they did so convincingly, turning a close game against the top overall seed in the tournament into a second-half blowout.
In just its second NCAA appearance, UMBC (25-10) never trailed after intermission and advanced to Sunday’s round of 32 to face No. 9 Kansas State. The Retrievers made 12 of 24 3-pointers and handled the Cavaliers’ vaunted pack line defense with 50 percent shooting overall.
Virginia (31-3) went 4 for 22 from 3-point range and had just five assists, a shockingly low number for a club that prides itself on sharing the basketball. It was outrebounded, 33-22, by the far smaller Retrievers.
“We talked about it before the game, to go out there and try to make history,” said UMBC graduate guard Jairus Lyles, a former standout at DeMatha who scored a game-high 28 points on 9 of 11 shooting. “It’s a very special moment for us.”
By the time Arkel Lamar made a 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the game, UMBC led, 61-44, and had the crowd cheering wildly in anticipation of the Retrievers completing a remarkable feat reminiscent of another ignominious Virginia loss.
In 1982, the Cavaliers, then ranked first in the country, fell to little-known Chaminade during a holiday tournament in Hawaii. That loss was long considered one of the greatest upsets in college sports his- tory, but it now has company.
“Not really a whole lot can prepare you for this kind of feeling,” said Virginia guard Kyle Guy, holding back tears. “There’s really not an answer that will make you feel better in this situation.”
The stunning loss ends a season for Virginia that had peaked with an ACC tournament championship last week and expectations of the school’s first national title. It marked the third time Virginia had earned a No. 1 seed under Coach Tony Bennett only to fail to reach the Final Four. This was, however, the Cavaliers’ earliest and most painful exit.
Virginia lost as a No. 1 seed in 2016 in the regional finals, blowing a 12-point halftime lead to Syracuse, and in the round of 16 in 2014 to Michigan State.
With the score tied at halftime, the Retrievers scored used a 17-3 flurry to move in front, 35-24. Junior guard Joe Sherburne made three 3-pointers in that time. UMBC stretched the margin to 41-27 with 14:57 to play on 3-pointer by Lyles.
While Virginia continuing to struggle mightily on offense, the Retrievers kept attacking, either getting into the lane for layups or passing the ball out for open looks from 3-point range.
In a scintillating stretch of scoring prowess, Lyles made three free throws, a 3-pointer, back-to-back layups and a contested floater in the lane with the shot clock about to expire all in a row. Point guard K.J. Maura followed with a 3-pointer for a 50-34 lead with 8:32 left in the game.
“They spread the floor. They made shots,” Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome said. “We didn’t defend well. We didn’t pass the ball well. We didn’t come off screens well. We didn’t anything well tonight, to be honest.”
For UMBC, simply reaching the NCAA tournament represented just how far the program has progressed under second-year coach Ryan Odom. The Retrievers have won 46 games since his arrival at the Catonsville, Maryland, school after winning just 41 games combined over the previous seven seasons before his hiring.
Facing Virginia proved somewhat bittersweet for Odom, he indicated earlier this week, given his father’s ties to the Cavaliers. Dave Odom was an assistant on then-Virginia men’s basketball coach Terry Holland’s staff from 1982 through ‘89, and Ryan served as a ballboy while growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia, a short walk from University Hall.
Still, the experience of playing in the NCAA tournament has provided national exposure for UMBC unlike anything previous, according to university officials.
As the only representative from the state of Maryland participating in the NCAA tournament, UMBC secured its first berth since 2008 by beating Vermont, 65-62, on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Lyles in the America East championship game on March 10 in Burlington, Vermont.
The Cavaliers had some improbable moments of their own this season on the way to a record-setting run through the ACC in which they became the first school to win 17 games in the conference and to go 9-0 on the road.