Before Friday, a No. 16 seed had never beaten a No. 1 seed, much less a No. 1 overall seed. They were 0-135. But the University of Maryland-Baltimore County -- yes, the little-known UMBC Retrievers -- proved even the longest of odds aren't totally insurmountable.
UMBC stunned the world and defeated top overall seed Virginia 74-54 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and with relative ease. The Retrievers, who earned their NCAA Tournament bid by winning the America East Tournament, led by as many as 20 points en route to the 20-point win.
UMBC lit EVERYONE'S bracket on fire pic.twitter.com/7o378kp7Em
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2018
UMBC (25-10) will go down in the history books, no matter how far it advances in the days that come. A team seeded 16th had ever knocked off a No. 1 -- and it's entirely possible that no team will again for years, or potentially decades, again.
Senior guard Jairus Lyles scored 28 points to lead UMBC, who entered the game as a 20.5-point underdog to the Cavaliers, the ACC regular-season and tournament champions.
The game was tied at halftime and UMBC, which had made only one NCAA Tournament appearance before this season, never cooled off, scoring the most points against Virginia this season.
The Retrievers shot a red-hot 54.2 percent from the floor and made 12 of their 24 3-point attempts.
After making history, the Retrievers advance to face No. 9 seed Kansas State in the second round on Sunday.
