CBB: First Time For Everything
363 days ago, a small school in Maryland pulled off the greatest upset in the history of college basketball, becoming the first ever 16-seed to defeat a one-seed. They did so through multiple head coaching hires, numerous losing seasons, countless hours of hard work, tough decisions on and off the court, a remarkable game-winner just six days earlier, and much more. Here's how it all went down.
UMBC was a combined 20-72 in the three years prior to head coach Ryan Odom's arrival on campus and the Retrievers had just one NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, which came in 2008. Although former head coach Aki Thomas wasn't able to get UMBC to the tournament during his tenure, he did bring in a few players that would change the culture around the basketball program. That all began with the recruitment of guard Jairus Lyles, who finished his four-year career as the second best scorer in school history. Odom was hired following the 2015-16 campaign, in which UMBC went an abysmal 7-25. And then the Retrievers saw an immediate increase of success.
"You have to start out by giving credit to Aki Thomas, the coach before Ryan Odom," said Zac McCord, Digital Managing Editor and Beat Writer for The Retriever. "What Odom did to turn this program around was simple, he emphasized defense. This team could score, but coach Odom made it to where they could score 60 points a game and win, as opposed to previously where the team would need 80-90 points if they were going to pull off a victory."
In the 2016-17 season, Odom helped his team improve to 21-13 and even reached the College Insider Tournament (CIT). Now, obviously it's a far cry from the NCAA Tournament, but reaching any postseason tournament is impressive, especially when UMBC had struggled for so many years prior. The Retrievers didn't have a storybook end to their season, but it was an obvious step in the right direction and it was clear from this point forward, Odom had a team that could compete in the America East regularly. Then 2017-18 came. UMBC's win total increased again, this time to 25-11. The 24th win of the year came in the America East title game against the top team in the conference.
"Vermont is like a blur. The fans in Vermont packed the place to full capacity, and they were so loud throughout the entire game, But, when I think back to the game I just remember things being different than the times we had previously played Vermont," McCord explained. "With about three seconds left he (Lyles) pulled up from behind the arch with Trae Bell-Haynes' hand in his face, and with 0.5 seconds left on the clock the ball went through the net."
The 65-62 victory sent UMBC to their second ever NCAA Tournament. Lyles, including the miraculous game-winner, dropped 27 points, three assists, and two rebounds in the upset. The following day, UMBC would be notified they would be a 16-seed and have to face one-seed Virginia in the opening round. There have been a handful of close games between No. 1 and No. 16 seeds, most notably in the late 20th century, but no upset had ever happened. To put this into context, 14-seeds are just 21-115 all-time in the opening round. That's a 15.4 percent win percentage. 15-seeds winning is even more rare, coming in at 5.8 percent. 16-seeds? 1-135. 0.74 percent.
That 1-135 record was 0-132 heading into March of 2018. 10 years after making their first ever appearance in the tournament, the Retrievers would have to face the top ranked team in the country. "I knew it was going to happen before the game. I was so sure about it, that 30 minutes before the game, I wrote the headline to my article 'Dancing in the Night Time: UMBC upsets #1 UVA,'" McCord told me. From the beginning of the game, the Retrievers made it known they weren't afraid. After the Cavaliers won the tip-off, point guard K.J. Maura jumped past half court and pressed up on Virginia's Ty Jerome. That subtle decision sent the message that UMBC wasn't backing down. And they didn't.
The first half was slow paced, which usually favored the Cavaliers, but UMBC found enough offense to finish the period on an 11-5 spurt to go into the locker room tied at 21. That momentum would carry into the second half, as Virginia found themselves down 38-24 less than five minutes later. At the 12:50 mark, UMBC led 41-29 and then Lyles decided it was time to take over. On three straight possessions, he got to the paint and scored over Cavaliers. After a layup to extend the Retrievers' lead to 14, he fended off a defender and finished with his left hand. The next time down, Lyles hit a floater. That's when it really started to feel like UMBC could pull off the greatest upset in history.
"Arkel Lamar's dunk near the end of that game is what sealed it for me mostly, but I wasn't ready to believe it was over until it actually was," McCord said. "My eyes never left the court. I kept thinking 'Here is where Virginia goes on a run' but it never happened. It was pandemonium afterwards." After the final buzzer sounded, history had officially been made. UMBC's 74-54 triumph was the first time a 16-seed had won a game in the tournament.
It was beyond remarkable. The Retrievers were led by Lyles' 28 points, three assists, and four rebounds on 81.8 percent shooting from the field. He wasn't the only one, though, as his backcourt mate Maura helped run the show all night. He finished with 10 points and three assists. Sharpshooter Joe Sherburne added 14 points. As for the Cavaliers, their top two players: Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome combined for a respectable 30 points, six assists, and four rebounds, but they didn't get much help beyond that. Senior forward, Devon Hall had one of the worst games of his entire career, finishing with two points and one rebound on 0-9 shooting.
"UMBC's win was the ninth NCAA Tournament victory all time for an America East team," a spokesperson for the America East Conference said. "Pulling off the greatest upset in tournament history brought many positives for UMBC and the America East Conference such as institutional awareness and exposure for the UMBC men's basketball team and the conference. An upset like this helps UMBC be a part of the conversation each year at a national scale."
"When we got down eight or 10 points, we just tried to make the home run plays...we were trying to get it all back on one play," Guy told NBC. On the Retrievers' sideline, though, it was pure ecstasy. "It's incredible. I'm so happy for our team, our kids, our staff. We worked so hard to have a moment like this. It's truly special," Odom explained to Cox Sports Broadcasting. While Maura said: "We believed in each other. It's a dream come true."
Truly a dream come true.
12 months later and the current team, with a few familiar faces, sits at 21-12 with an 11-5 conference record after recent victories over New Hampshire, Albany, and Hartford to get back to the conference title game in a rematch versus Vermont. No matter how the remainder of this season goes, the UMBC team, community, and family will never forget what happened on March 16th, 2018 in front of 17,943 people in Charlotte. None of us will ever forget it.
Photo Credit: NBC Sports.
