History was made Friday night in Charlotte, as #1 Virginia became the first top seed to lose to a #16 seed. Maryland Baltimore County opened the second half on a 17-3 run, and led by double digits for the last 16:23 in a 74-54 final.
UVA (31-3) had just completed a historic run in the ACC, winning the conference regular-season and tournament titles, but the ‘Hoos could never get things going against the Terriers, who had to beat Vermont on the Catamounts home floor to win the automatic bid from the America East Conference.
Virginia, a 20-point favorite, had a six-point lead with 6:32 left in the first half, but UMBC (25-10) rallied to tie the game at 21 at the halftime break.
The Retrievers took control with a torrid shooting stretch to start the second half, hitting four of their first five shots from three-point range to go up 38-24 with 15:52 left.
Virginia, shockingly, would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way, as UMBC shot 67.9 percent from the floor in the second half, connecting on 19-of-28 from the field and 7-of-12 from three-point range.
Jairus Lyles had 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead the Retrievers, who also got 14 points from Joe Sherburne and 12 points from Arkel Lamar.
Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome each had 15 for Virginia.
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