This week UMBC made history as the first ever No. 16 seed team to best a No. 1 seed in an NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Retrievers’ season ended last night in a hard-fought round two, but our UMBC community will carry the pride of this moment with us for years to come. And, through this achievement, the nation has come to understand what a special place UMBC is.
Thank you to the men’s basketball team and to coach Ryan Odom for the grit you displayed all season. And thank you to the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others in Retriever Nation for your tremendous support.
The UMBC community will continue to celebrate in the coming days and weeks. Please stay tuned for details, and enjoy the rest of your Spring Break.
#RetrieverNation #UMBCproud

Congratulations on a terrific season @UMBCAthletics. You made all of Baltimore proud this week.

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 19, 2018

It wasn’t the ending we were rooting for, but you made BMore proud! Can’t wait to host the @UMBC_MBB team at Oriole Park this summer and celebrate your historic season.

As Retriever Nation erupted with joy for UMBC’s 74-54 upset victory over the University of Virginia—a team thought unbeatable just hours before—millions of new fans learned for the first time what UMBC stands for: University of a Million Brackets Crushed. Or U Must Be Cinderella. Or, as longtime Retriever fans will tell you, U Made the Best Choice.

Friday’s game wasn’t just record-setting, expectation-smashing victory for UMBC. It was also a major first for the NCAA. Never before has a no. 16 seed bested a no. 1 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, until UMBC, as NPR noted, “beat the stuffing out of Virginia, the best team in the country.” Then again, UMBC is used to achieving what no one knew was possible for such a young public research university.

News of the historic victory immediately flashed on the homepage of the New York Times, which wrote that UMBC “played loose and fearless” and that although Virginia had the nation’s top defense going into the game, UMBC shot 54.2 percent from the floor.

Arguing that “college basketball has never seen a bigger upset than Maryland-Baltimore County 74, Virginia 54,” USA Today wrote, “When most uber-longshots in the NCAA tournament get tight, the Retrievers instead went to the rim with reckless abandon.” As UMBC’s lead over Virginia ballooned, the Cavaliers “played with nervousness while the Retrievers’ confidence grew.“

UMBC star guard Jairus Lyles ‘17, sociology, M.A. ‘18, education, again helped lead his team to victory, finishing with 28 points (82 percent from the floor). “UMBC needed a big bucket or Virginia seemed like it was going to make a run,” USA Today noted, “Lyles would carve through defenders for a tear-drop lay-up or hit a clutch jumper.”

As Bill Raftery said during the TNT broadcast, “The kid’s on fire.”
 For Lyles, whose parents are actually UVA alumni, it’s all about his coaches and fellow players. “I’m playing at a high level. But my teammates put that confidence in me,” he said just after the win. “We believe in each other.”

Today, Retriever fans are watching the game on repeat and catching up on posts from @UMBCAthletics, which also made headlines for its joyful, and often cheeky, tweets throughout the evening, calling out doubters, thanking fans, and lamenting a shortage of cookies in the media room.

At one point, account manager Zach Seidel ‘12, media and communication studies, M.S. ‘15, human-centered computing, reminded viewers:

Second Half about to start, no matter what happens we just want you all to remember……we are conveniently located just outside of Baltimore and have stellar academics

— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018

Luckily, there’s no risk that new or longstanding Retriever fans will forget the night. By the end of the evening — as the Washington Post shared with the world, “They did it. And it wasn’t even close” — UMBC was the number one topic people were talking about on Twitter…worldwide.

UMBC now advances to play ninth-seeded Kansas State on Sunday, March 18. As Head Coach Ryan Odom told the team just after their historic win, “The key now is you don’t have long to get ready for the next one.” That’s our Retrievers: always showing their grit and reaching together for greatness.

Game updates will be available soon on the Retriever Nation webpage.

— Dinah Winnick

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Header photo: Mitchell Layton
Additional photos: Ian Feldmann, UMBC Retriever Weekly

With tonight’s 74-54 win over the University of Virginia’s (UVA) Cavaliers, UMBC has made basketball history as the first No. 16 seed team to best a No. 1 seed in an NCAA men’s tournament. The victory sends the team into the second round of play versus Kansas State, on Sunday, March 18.

In the first half, the Retrievers stayed consistently within striking distance of the Cavaliers, pushing to a tie at halftime. They came back fresh, with an impressive run of confident three-pointers that took them all the way home.

“UMBC is the talk of the nation right now…what they’re doing to UVA,” noted a commentator with seven minutes left on the clock.

As the final buzzer rang in the news, the crowd went wild. #RetrieverNation fans took to social media to share their delight about this true Cinderella story.

“I love seeing them smile…they’re good kids, I’m so proud of them,” said head coach Ryan Odom, who said they’ll “prepare for the next one, just like we did for this one.”

Going into the game, star guard Jairus Lyles ‘17, sociology, M.A. ‘18, education, told a Virginia NBC affiliate: “We’re definitely a confident group. We know we have to play a tough team, a very tough team especially defensively…we’re still confident that we’re going to go out there and have fun and try to win the game.

We’d like to send a huge Retriever congratulations to our UMBC men’s basketball team for playing their hearts out this season, and for giving us all something wonderful to believe in.

To the entire #RetrieverNation community — thanks for being Retriever Believers! Your passion for UMBC shines through in so many ways. We’ve chronicled some of our favorite social media highlights from this historic run to the NCAAs here. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more about Round 2!

Game photos by Ian Feldmann, the Retriever Weekly

March Madness: U.M.B.C. Makes NCAA History by Beating No. 1 Virginia — New York Times

Virginia becomes first No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament in an upset by UMBC — Washington Post

* * * * *
U Must Be Cinderella
University of Millions of Brackets Crushed

* * * * *

By now, the image of star guard Jairus Lyles’s incredible game-winning three-pointer at the America East championships is etched upon many of our brains. But, here’s one more for good measure. Swoosh!

At UMBC, we’re busy celebrating the men’s soccer team and their America East Championship win over Hartford. This sets the Retrievers on the road to the NCAA tournament–their fourth tournament bid in five years.

The team is truly a “Fan Favorite” and Retriever Fever is catching across campus, from the dedicated supporters of Lot 17 to faculty and staff. In fact, The Baltimore Sun  reported that at the end of the America East Championship game, “UMBC fans and students stormed the field and celebrated with the players at midfield.”

The men’s soccer team is in Wake Forest today for the first round of the NCAA tournament–along with a bus full of dedicated supporters–in hopes of continuing their winning streak.

Do you have Retriever Fever? Support the team on the road to victory!

NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament
UMBC faces off against winner of Quinnipiac v. Connecticut
Sunday, November 24, 5 p.m., Retriever Soccer Park
Tickets on sale: http://bit.ly/UMBCNCAA

Get your tickets now! $10 for adults, $7 for faculty and staff, and $5 for seniors 55+/youth 5-14/UMBC students. Children 5 and under free.

Tickets must be picked up at will call. For questions, contact Kristen Alexander at kristen2@umbc.edu.