NCAA Tournament Predictions: Can UMBC shock Kansas State too? 3/18/18

The magical ride of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County men’s basketball team ended Sunday night when the Retrievers suffered a 50-43 loss to Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Brown got going late in the half, working his way into the paint for points to give the Wildcats a 25-20 lead at intermission.

Graduate-guard Jairus Lyles put up a 3 pointer with 5 minutes remaining to bring the game back within 1 point after Kansas scored, to put the score at 38-37, with the Retrievers right on the heels of the Wildcats.

UMBC sounds like part of an old sit-com title, “Gomer Pyle, USMC”, who did not play for the Retrievers.

Perhaps the best way to recap the past four days of the NCAA Tournament is to highlight the strangest facts about the 16 teams still standing and how they got this far. UMBC’s only other tournament appearance came during in the 2007-08 season.

“We were talking about it before the game, just trying to go out here and make history, doing it for our program, our teammates, our coaching staff”, Lyles said. Wade couldn’t play in Friday’s win over Creighton and it is unclear if he will be able to suit up today.

“We were shooting early (in the shot clock), and that messed us up a little bit”, Mawien said. The entire arena began cheering “UMBC” minus the Kansas State contingent. Kansas State also gave UMBC ample opportunities to secure another upset – turning the ball over 18 times and shooting 1-for-12 from three-point range. The statement the Retrievers made and their place in history is forever.

Kentucky advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 78-73 win against No. 12 seed Davidson in the first round and a 95-75 win against No. 13 seed Buffalo in the second round.

Bennett said the Cavaliers had a historic season and then “a historic loss”.

UMBC is next scheduled to play Kansas State – a No. 9 seed – Sunday night in Charlotte.

They chanted “We still made history” after the game, the first 16 seed to ever take down a one won’t be forgotten. “Sharpie.” Later, after UMBC took the lead, Seidel responded: “Hi everyone, in case you didn’t see, Seth Davis tweeted this one minute into the game”. “Me and my buddy Dan went to UMBC, so we spent all day talking up how much we were going to bet”. Defense and grit won this game. Harvard women’s basketball was the first to do this, as a No. 16 seeded team, upset No. 1 Stanford with a 71-67 win in 1998.

Led by Isaiah Wilkins, Virginia’s defense dominated in the paint this season. Nobody plans on losing and I don’t think we planned on losing. Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks.

The Retrievers have embraced their sudden celebrity, with their highlights shown extensively and repeatedly across the country on television sports networks and their 74-54 dismantling of Virginia the most discussed result in this tournament.