After years of wondering whether or not a No. 16 seed would ever defeat a No. 1 seed, we finally have our answer. The UMBC Retrievers made history by knocking off the overall No. 1 seed Virginia Cavaliers in a 74-54 romp on Friday night.
UMBC is definitely going to savor the moment as the University of Maryland-Baltimore County will be on the tips of everybody’s tongues the rest of the week. Of all the No. 16 seeds, this team was given the least chance after nipping Vermont for the America East title at the buzzer.
Now, UMBC is looking to keep the party going by finding a way to upset the Kansas State Wildcats.
This war on the floor will go down Sunday, March 18, 2018, at 7:40 p.m. ET at Spectrum Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game will be televised live on truTV. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game throughout March Madness.
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Kansas State’s impressive win over Creighton was completely overshadowed by the result of the late game in Charlotte. The Wildcats held the Bluejays to a season-low 26 points in the first half on their way to pulling off a decent upset themselves according to the CBB betting odds. The way Kansas State was able to shut down former guard Marcus Foster was extremely impressive, holding Creighton’s star scoreless in the first half in the win.
Clips of UMBC’s upset over Virginia will now be entrenched in March Madness montages until the end of time. The most amazing thing about the Retrievers’ victory in this one is that they actually looked like the better team in this game. Virginia had lost just twice all season thanks to an all-time great defense, but the Retrievers exploded for 53 points in the second half to reverse cover.
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Jairus Lyles is going to go down in history as leading the charge in the biggest upset ever. Lyles was phenomenal in this win over Virginia. He was the one that sank the basket to lead UMBC over Vermont, and shined against the Cavaliers here. He went 9-11 from the floor and finished with a game-high 28 points.
This will undoubtedly go down as the best performance of Lyles’ career. He had not shot better than 43.5 percent from the floor in each of his last five games as opponents knew that the Retrievers’ offense ran through him and threw bodies at him to shut him down.
Lyles has been a great three-point shooter this year and that has carried the team. He is hitting almost 40 percent from beyond the arc and will look to keep that going against Kansas State.
Key Injury
Early indications are that Kansas State will have star forward Dean Wade ready for this one. According to reports, Wade was cleared to play against Creighton about an hour before gametime, but Bruce Weber erred on the side of caution and decided to rest him once more. However, with an extra two days of rest, there is a lot of optimism that he will be on the floor here.
Wade has been the leader for Kansas State for most of the season. The 6’10 junior leads the team in points and rebounds and has great range for a big man too. Wade is knocking down 44 percent of his triples on the season, making him someone to respect on the perimeter.
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Oddsmakers may have a hard time coming up with a line in this one. UMBC just pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history, but the Retrievers will almost certainly be a sizeable underdog here. With Wade back in the lineup, Kansas State will be rejuvenated and move on to the Sweet 16.
NCAAB Basketball Betting Odds: Kansas State 75, UMBC 64
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