UMBC's historic NCAA tournament win more than two decades in the making

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- For a little over two hours Friday night, Fang Mitchell went back in time. The former Coppin State men’s basketball coach was watching No. 16 seed UMBC’s historic NCAA tournament win over top seed Virginia in Charlotte, N.C.

Though he was sitting at home in the Atlanta suburbs, Mitchell was suddenly transported back more than two decades to another huge upset in the NCAA tournament.

Suddenly, Mitchell was reliving his former team’s victory as a 15th seed over No. 2 seed South Carolina in Pittsburgh in the opening round in 1997.

“I knew that you have to stay close at halftime, and when I saw it was 21-21 at half, I knew they had a shot,” Mitchell said Saturday. “The longer you stay in it, the better your chances become.

“When you get into that second half and things aren’t going right [for the higher seed], things get a little tight for the team that's supposed to win it. UMBC was as loose as they could be.”

In Coppin State's 78-65 win over the 30-point favorite Gamecocks, the Eagles fell behind by “seven or eight points” early in the second half and came back behind guards Antoine Brockington and Danny Singletary, who combined for 42 points in the game and forward Reggie Welch, who had 15 rebounds.

In UMBC’s 74-54 win over the Cavaliers, who came in as 20½-point favorites, the Retrievers built a seven-point lead before the first media timeout in the second half and saw the lead quickly climb behind senior guard Jairus Lyles, who scored 23 of his 28 points after halftime, as well as 5-foot-8 senior guard K.J. Maura, who dictated the pace at both ends, and sophomore forward Arkel Lamar, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. It marked the first time since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — and eventually to 68 — that a No. 16 seed had beaten a No. 1 seed.



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