CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The euphoria echoed resoundingly through the hallow halls of Spectrum Center as a moment 33 years in the making uncorked every emotion imaginable. March Madness had reached a new level of mad when 16-seeded UMBC routed No. 1-seeded Virginia on Friday.
Never before has basketball seen this type of Cinderella or an upset of that magnitude. Sports on the whole likely hasn’t seen something comparable since the Miracle on Ice, when the United States upset the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey semifinals.
UMBC’s utter defeat of Virginia, meanwhile, was no miracle. The Retrievers came ready. All week long, from the moment they learned of their matchup on Selection Sunday, they were adamant to make history.
“We were talking about it before the game, just trying to go out here and make history,” said UMBC senior guard Jairus Lyles, who backed up his desire with 28 points on just 11 shots.
A masterful gameplan came together on the court. Earlier in the week, Lyles and his teammates envisioned his Retrievers having success from 3-point range, which would be the key to cracking Virginia’s lauded, packline defense.
“If we hit 10 or more 3-pointers, we’ll have a chance,” UMBC guard Jourdan Grant told me during Thursday’s media day.
UMBC eventually connected on 12 of 24 of those attempts. Virginia? Only 4 of 22.
“We had the confidence coming in the game,” Lyles said. “We knew we could play with them.”
History has been made, but there’s a bigger picture coming into view. The Retrievers continue their magical run Sunday when they take on 9-seeded Kansas State at 7:45 p.m. on truTV with a Sweet 16 berth in Atlanta and a date with Kentucky on the line.
“We’re not done,” Lyles said. “It’s just having all the guys realize we have another game to play. Just because we won this game doesn’t mean we’re going to win the next game. Everybody on the team wants to make a run and make more history. … We have nothing to lose.”
Sherburne added: “We go into every game thinking we have a chance to win. Kansas State won, right? They’re a good team, too. We have another big challenge ahead of us on Sunday.”
KenPom, which gave UMBC just a 9 percent chance at winning the America East Conference tournament title and 3 percent chance of defeating No. 1 Virginia, has Kansas State as 10-point favorites with an 81 percent chance of prevailing. If UMBC wants another shot to defy the odds, it’ll need to slow down junior guard Barry Brown (16 points per game), sophomore forward Xavier Sneed (10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds) and Dean Wade (16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds).
UMBC will also need to take care of the ball. Kansas State has the sixth-highest steal percentage in the country (at an 11.2 clip), a product of their scrappy, intense pressure defense. On Friday, the Retrievers turned the ball over 12 times, a manageable number. In their epic conference title win over Vermont, they only had four turnovers.
A telltale sign for the Retrievers against Kansas State comes down to their dynamic perimeter game. If Lyles, Maura, Sherburne, Arkel Lamar and company continue to perform — most notably hitting 3-pointers — then the incredible run could live for another round.
When UMBC arrived back to the locker room on Friday, Josh Rosario pulled up a graphic from ESPN’s Instagram that read “PERFECT BRACKETS REMAINING: 0” that plastered over top an image of Grant and Maura embracing.
“No more brackets!” Rosario yelled. “No more brackets are left!”
“It’s over. It’s over. And it’s over. I told you! I told everyone!” freshman guard Isaiah Rogers said.
“All brackets gone!” a team manager said. “Put that in the news!”
Oh it’s in the news alright. Hello UMBC, U Must Be Cinderella.
