March Madness: No. 12 Richmond upsets No. 5 Iowa to become first NCAA Tournament Cinderella

Iowa entered the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams, having just won the Big Ten Tournament and nine of its last 10 games. 

No. 12-seeded Richmond was unfazed, stunning the Hawkeyes 67-63 to become this NCAA Tournament's first big mid-major upset.

Richmond, winners of the Atlantic 10 tournament, had no shot at making the NCAAs as an at-large bid despite hanging around the bubble through February and March. On Thursday, the Spiders (24-12) proved they belonged on the big stage with a gutsy and determined performance against one of the better teams in the mighty Big Ten Conference. 

Jacob Gilyard, a 5-9 senior sparkplug point guard, helped spearhead the shocker with 24 points and six assists in the win. Richmond forward Tyler Burton came up clutch from the free-throw line (9-for-10) to finish with 18 points. Senior Nathan Cayo (15 points) had a pair of crucial baskets in the final 1:30 to help the Spiders pull away. 

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"I mean we're resilient. We are very confident in ourselves and we think we can beat anybody," said Gilyard, a fifth-year senior and one of several players on Richmond's roster to come back an extra season – taking advantage of the NCAA's COVID year. "We’re not done yet. This is why we came back. Why we play college basketball."

Iowa's All-American forward Keegan Murray, who averages 23.6 points a game, couldn't find an offensive rhythm in this game – finishing with 21 points and scoring most of the baskets late. A major no-call in the final minute off Kris Murray's three-pointer was a talking point by analysts on the broadcast. 

The Hawkeyes struggled on defense throughout the night and its offense wasn't much better, managing just 21% from three-point range. 

Richmond's win is also a statement for the Atlantic 10, which had two representatives in this NCAA tournament (No. 10 seed Davidson the other). Bubble team Dayton was listed as the "first team out" of the field on Selection Sunday, and VCU and Saint Louis also missed the cut as bubble teams. 

The Spiders advanced to the Sweet 16 the last time they were in the tournament, in 2011, when they beat Vanderbilt and Morehead State before falling to Kansas by 20 points. In 1991, they shocked No. 2 seed Syracuse in the opening round. And in 1988, Dick Tarrant's squad took down Indiana and Georgia Tech to make the school's first Sweet 16 appearance. Temple ended that run.

It's another disappointing postseason for coach Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes. After drawing a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance last year, Iowa exited before the second weekend. 

Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson