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March Madness

Kansas State knocks out No. 16 seed UMBC, ending Cinderella run

Dan Wolken
USA TODAY

CHARLOTTE — From now until the end of time, Maryland-Baltimore County will be the first member of a club that previously did not exist, the ultimate Cinderella in a tournament that churns them out annually. Every March, those four letters — UMBC — will be synonymous with the greatest upset of them all.

Kansas State Wildcats forward Xavier Sneed (20) dunks the ball against the UMBC Retrievers in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center.

And even in the momentary sadness for UMBC that its NCAA tournament run ended Sunday night in a 50-43 loss against Kansas State, there appeared to be an innate understanding of what it had accomplished and how the previous 48 hours had, in many ways, changed their lives.

“We didn’t plan on losing, but it happens, man,” said guard Jourdan Grant. “Somebody has to lose. It happened to be us tonight. We’ll take it for what it is. We made history, and I wouldn’t want to do it with another set of guys.”

After a handful of close calls over the years, only one team was going to get the distinction of being the first No 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed, and it turned out to be this group, which didn’t merely grind its way to an upset, it dismantled the No. 1 overall seed during a surreal hour of basketball that will remain as the most memorable part of this year’s tournament no matter what happens from here. 

But, predictably, doing it again was much too much to ask.

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By every metric or statistical analysis, beating Kansas State — a completely nondescript No. 9 seed — should have been easier for UMBC than what it had already done by upsetting Virginia. In reality, it was exponentially harder.

For longshot teams such as UMBC, March magic rarely lasts more than one round. The improbable things that happen for 40 minutes one night tend to regress to the mean the next. Against Kansas State, the Retrievers looked not like the giant-killers that spent 40 minutes making back-breaking three-pointers and slicing up the nation's top-ranked defense with reckless abandon, but rather like a nice little team from the America East that needed a last-second three-pointer to get into the NCAA tournament. 

Which is actually what they are. 

“Nothing can take away what these kids have been able to accomplish,” coach Ryan Odom said. “Just to be here is a blessing for sure, and I wrote one word on the board for these guys once we got into the locker room at the end about how I felt about them and it was just ‘Proud.’ Very proud of these kids and what they’ve been able to do. They’ve captured our country and beyond from a sporting standpoint, and it’s really neat.”

Remarkably, UMBC had more than a decent shot of extending the story even further. It didn’t because the shots that fell Friday night and put Virginia on its heels never connected at the same rate against Kansas State. 

Kansas State Wildcats guard Barry Brown (5) shoots the ball against UMBC Retrievers forward Joe Sherburne (13) during the second half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center.

After Bruce Weber watched UMBC’s star guard Jairus Lyles control the second half against Virginia and penetrate almost at will, Kansas State was determined to put stress on the supporting cast by switching screens and making sure bodies were in Lyles’ path any time he tried to turn the corner. 

He ended up 4-for-15 from the field, lamenting a few missed opportunities in the second half when the game was still there to be won. 

“We got open shots,” Lyles said. “We just didn’t make any, it happens some games. We had a great season. We made history the other night, but we wanted to win tonight. We felt like we had a good chance of winning but overall, we understand that what we did the other night, we had a great season. We did the unexpected so we’re proud of each other for that.”

The No. 9 seeded Wildcats advance to the South Regional in Atlanta, where they’ll face No. 5 seed Kentucky in the Sweet 16. One can only imagine the frenzy around UMBC next week had it pulled off another upset, which, despite everything, looked like it still had a chance of happening all the way down to the final two minutes. 

“We got a lot of open looks,” forward Arkel Lamar said. “If we would have made some, we could have come out on top.” 

From the beginning Sunday, the Retrievers looked a step slower than they were against Virginia and a fraction less crisp. If it was the effect of fatigue, who could blame them? They had spent the previous 45 hours in a whirlwind brought on by their newfound celebrity, conditions they had never before experienced right before a big game. 

UMBC Retrievers guard K.J. Maura (11) shoots the ball against Kansas State Wildcats forward Makol Mawien (14) during the first half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center.

And, of course, the element of surprise was long gone.

But even after going more than eight minutes in the second half without a basket, when Lyles finally hit a three-pointer to pull within 38-37, the crowd in Charlotte sensed there was a still a chance. Instead, it was the last gasp. 

UMBC, which shot 6-for-22 from the three-point line, 9-for-18 from the foul line and committed 17 turnovers, never could get the lead. Kansas State didn’t play smooth basketball either — it fumbled numerous transition opportunities and flung wild shots at the basket — but was able to grind through enough possessions to take a 46-41 lead with 1:08 remaining when Xavier Sneed beat the shot clock with a 10-foot baseline runner. 

But unlike most losing locker rooms in the NCAA tournament, there was little talk about the opportunities missed. Guard Joe Sherburne went 0-for-9 from the field and missed all four three-pointers — “my worst game of the season,” he said — but chose instead to focus on the hundreds of encouraging text messages that were waiting for him after the game and the indelible mark these kids from UMBC left on college basketball history. 

“Since we beat Vermont (in the America East title game), this was the best week of my life,” Sherberne said. “It didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but it doesn’t change anything we did before that. It was the best time probably any of us ever had.”

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