page_title: 2018 UMBC vs. Virginia men's basketball game
section_title: Aftermath and redemption
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 UMBC vs. Virginia men's basketball game / Aftermath and redemption
caption_attribution_description: Governor Larry Hogan by Anthony DePanise at Government House, 110 State Circle, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
context_page_description: On March 16, 2018, during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, the University of Virginia Cavaliers played a college basketball game against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cavaliers, who were seeded first in the South regional bracket and first overall in the NCAA Tournament, faced the Retrievers, who were seeded 16th in the South regional bracket. Virginia and UMBC competed for the right to face ninth-seeded Kansas State, which had already won their first-round game against Creighton earlier in the day.
  The Retrievers defeated the Cavaliers 74–54, becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It was only the second time in college basketball overall, after the No. 16 seeded Harvard women defeated overall No. 1 Stanford twenty years earlier. UMBC also earned its first NCAA Tournament win in school history.
context_section_description: Immediately after the game in an interview, Virginia coach Tony Bennett remarked, 
  "That was not even close. That’s first a credit to the job Ryan did, coach Odom. Their offense was very hard to guard. They shot it well. We kept getting broken down and did a poor job. ... We had a hard time with their mobile fours and their four guards. I don’t know what to say but that. That was a thorough butt whipping."
  Bennett's reaction after the game was featured in Inc. magazine as a lesson in emotional intelligence and leadership. After the win, Odom said, "Unbelievable — it’s really all you can say."
  UMBC advanced to the Round of 32, in which they faced 9-seed Kansas State Wildcats on March 18, 2018. The game was competitive, with neither team having a lead greater than nine points throughout the game, and UMBC trailing by only three points with two minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats won the game 50–43, thus ending UMBC's one-game Cinderella run.
  The first round losses by No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 4 seed Arizona, and second round losses by No. 2 seed Cincinnati and No. 3 seed Tennessee, led to the South Region becoming the first ever to not advance any of its top four seeds to the Sweet Sixteen. Another Cinderella, No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago, won the region by beating Kansas State 78–62, becoming the fourth 11-seed ever to advance to the Final Four.
  Following the season, two members of the Retrievers staff became head coaches. Assistant coach Eric Skeeters took over the Delaware State program, while director of recruiting Griff Aldrich took over Longwood. Delaware State and Longwood met in the 2018–19 season, with the host team Longwood winning 89–73. Aldrich then led Longwood to their first ever Division I postseason appearance in the 2019 College Basketball Invitational, and was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award (given for most outstanding first-year head coach), which had been won by Odom in 2017.
  Also in 2018–19, Virginia again led the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and attained another No. 1 seed. Virginia trailed by as many as 14 points to No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb in the first half and still trailed by 6 (36–30) at halftime, before the Cavaliers poured it on and outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs 41–14 in the first nineteen minutes of the second half.
  Virginia went on to win the 2019 NCAA Tournament Championship in dramatic fashion, becoming the first first-time winner of the national championship since Florida thirteen years prior. UMBC, meanwhile, lost to Vermont in the championship game of the America East conference tournament, ending their hopes for an immediate return to the tourney. In a show of sportsmanship, the official UMBC athletics Twitter account celebrated Virginia's NCAA Championship. 
  ESPN called Virginia's 2018–19 championship run "the most redemptive season in the history of college basketball." NBC Sports called Virginia's 2018–19 NCAA title the "greatest redemption story in the history of sports." De'Andre Hunter (who missed the UMBC game with the broken wrist) was drafted #4 as a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, as Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy also left early and were drafted as well.
caption: The UMBC basketball team with Larry Hogan, who is holding a special digital cover of Sports Illustrated published after the game.
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