A No. 1 seed had never lost to a No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history — until Friday, that is.
UMBC proved that they could play on the big stage, upsetting UVA in Friday night’s Round of 64 matchup. The Retrievers entered the halftime break tied with the Cavaliers at 21, and their confidence just continued to grow as the game progressed.
UVA, touted by many as the best defensive team in the country, looked anything but on Friday. It was the Retrievers that controlled the glass — by a 33-24 rebounding margin — and ensured the Cavaliers couldn’t get second-chance opportunities after missed shots. Not only that, UMBC shot the ball extremely well from the perimeter, hitting 12 of 24 three-pointers it attempted.
All in all, UMBC’s 74-54 win was easily one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, and the game will be talked about for years to come. The Twitterverse certainly had plenty to say about it — with plenty of memes and great reactions — which you can see below.
Biggest upset in tournament history was in 2012 when Norfolk St beat Missouri as 21.5 point underdogs. Virginia was -22.5 against UMBC tonight.
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) March 17, 2018
Skip Bayless on Monday morning: how much Blame should Lebron take for the Cavs losing ?
— Čhukwudi (@Chukxoo) March 17, 2018
Potential locker room celebration! pic.twitter.com/vB1UasjQGS
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) March 17, 2018
C'MON GUYS, you crashed our dang website, our IT people wanna watch the game too, please form an orderly line
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Virginia fans watching this one… pic.twitter.com/vC74jhqzZ4
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) March 17, 2018
Shook.#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/2xNVspUQT4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/974851672244736001
*checks @UMBCAthletics' timeline* 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/RvIuRqExHT
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 17, 2018
UMBC was .5 point away from covering Virginia’s spread (-20.5).
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) March 17, 2018
Baltimore gonna let up on the gas? pic.twitter.com/deL8AadYo8
— Al Toby (@AlTobyYahoo) March 17, 2018
Less than two months ago, UMBC lost to Albany. The score was 83-39. Other losses this year include Army (13-17) and Stony Brook (13-19).
It's fun to watch history as it's happening.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 17, 2018
UMBC sure didn’t look like a 16-seed on Friday night, and conversely, UVA didn’t resemble anything close to a 1-seed. The Cavaliers may have taken the Retrievers lightly, and they paid for it.
All the credit goes to the Retrievers, though. They played hard from whistle to whistle, and earned the big win.
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