NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament cinderellas since 2000
By Adam Childs
4) 2018 UMBC Retrievers, No. 16-seed
Record: 25-11, Round of 32
Beat: (1) Virginia Cavaliers
A No. 16-seed had never beat a No. 1-seed. Their overall record was 0-135. A few teams had come close, but it had never happened. Many thought someday it would, but even they had doubts it would actually happen. That all went away when the UMBC Retrievers scored 53 points in the second half against a Virginia Cavaliers team that gave up less than that many points in 15 GAMES that year.
The Retrievers could do no wrong in the second half and would win the game by 20 points. Not only had they become the first No. 16-seed to win a game, but they also beat the overall top seed of the tournament and did it in convincing fashion.
The Cavaliers were picked by many to win the tournament, not to lose in the first round. Virginia had only lost two games all year and was looking to do big things in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they became the answer to a trivia question.
UMBC would shoot 67.9 percent in the second half in what was a dominating performance. After being tied at 21 at halftime, the game soon became a blowout win by the Retrievers.
Jarius Lyles led the way for UMBC scoring 28 points, looking like the best player on the court for most of the game. He would hit nine of his 11 shots and went 3-of-4 from outside. He was unstoppable in the second half. Once Virginia got down, the Cavaliers had no answers for Lyles and company.
The Retrievers would play the Kansas State Wildcats tough in the second round before losing by seven, but it barely seemed to matter. UMBC had done what no other team in the history of college basketball had done and that will never be forgotten.
We may never see a No. 16-seed win again, but for one night, we saw what everyone thought was impossible happen. This was the greatest upset in college basketball history and no one can take that away from the Retreivers. So when someone asks who was the first No. 16-seed to win a tournament game, the answer will always be UMBC.