There is no bigger news in basketball today than the historic 74-54 win of University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers over the Virginia Cavaliers in the first round of the Big Dance on Friday. It was the first time in the tournament’s history that a No. 16 seed managed to take down a top seed, and the manner in which the Retrievers put away Virginia only added to the strength of the shockwave they sent across the sport.
The improbable upset victory by the Retrievers was not lost also on many NBA stars, who took to Twitter to express their thoughts about the basketball miracle they just witnessed. Some of them were just as impressed of senior UMBC guard Jairus Lyles, who exploded for 28 points with three three-pointers against the Cavaliers.
My young boy Jarius Lyles out here cooking!!! #feathery #onedematha
— Victor Oladipo (@VicOladipo) March 17, 2018
Jarius Lyles is looking like he next mid-major NBA star
— Ryan Hollins (@TheRyanHollins) March 17, 2018
Yes sirrrr #JairusLyles killing.. #UMBC #UpsetAlert #NCAA #MarchMadness
— Troy Daniels (@troydaniels) March 17, 2018
Here are some more:
Enjoy watching history y’all. No 1 seed ever lost
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) March 17, 2018
Currently witnessing history #UMBC
— Frank Kaminsky III (@FSKPart3) March 17, 2018
Welp everybody bracket done now
— JARRETT JACK (@Jarrettjack03) March 17, 2018




so the worst team in the tournament, beats the best team in the tournament…I LOVE MARCH!!
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) March 17, 2018
Here's Milwaukee Bucks big man John Henson channeling his inner Rick Pitino in ribbing his teammate and ex-Virginia Cavaliers guard, Malcolm Brogdon.
https://twitter.com/Johnhenson31/status/974843412917743617
The Retrievers incredibly had an easy time breaking down Virginia’s vaunted defense – widely regarded as the best in the nation. They have an RPI of 116 and are 188th on KenPom. In both of those rankings, Virginia occupied the No. 1 spot.
The Retrievers don’t do anything spectacular, as they finished the regular season 191st in scoring and 126th in points allowed, but somehow managed to shoot 54.2 percent from the field with 12 three-pointers against Virginia.
For context, the Cavs surrendered just 53.4 points per game and limited opponents to only 42.4 percent shooting from the field back in the regular season. Not even Duke and North Carolina were able to have the same kind of success UMBC had versus Virginia’s stout defense back in conference play.
On Friday, the Retrievers threw all those numbers out of the window and made history. They ride their pumpkin ride to the second round, where they will meet the Kansas State Wildcats.