LOUISVILLE, Ky. — William Lee scored the last four points for 14th-seeded UAB, and the Blazers knocked off third-seeded Iowa State 60-59 on Thursday.
It’s the third consecutive year a No. 14 seed has upset a No. 3 seed, and Georgia State followed up by joining the list within an hour with a 57-56 win over Baylor.
The Blazers (20-15) came in with the third-youngest team in the NCAA Tournament and with nobody having played in this tournament. They wound up winning the program’s first NCAA game since 2005 and ran over to celebrate in front of the fans of a school that shut its football program down in December.
“For us, it was just huge,” UAB junior Robert Brown said. “We come here, not just to play games, but to actually make some noise and to win some games. To be able to do that and win for Birmingham, win for Coach (Jerod) Haase, it’s a great feeling.”
The ninth-ranked Cyclones (25-9) came into the South Regional looking for a much longer run than a year ago when they reached the Sweet 16 without top scorer Georges Niang due to injury. But they just couldn’t match the scrappy Blazers on the boards in a second half where the Cyclones couldn’t hold onto a 55-51 lead with 3:13 left.
For Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, it’s as tough a loss as he’s had. His Cyclones came in having won five straight, rallying from double-digit deficits in each on their way to the Big 12 Tournament title.
“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Hoiberg said. “You’ve got to come out and play 40 minutes. … I don’t know. Maybe we should have let them get up double digits. That’s kind of how we play our best.”
The Blazers outscored Iowa State 9-4 down the stretch.
Iowa State, which lost its opener as a No. 2 seed in 2001, last led at 57-56 on a basket by Monte Morris.
But Lee hit a jumper with 24 seconds left, putting UAB ahead to stay. Niang had a jumper blocked by Tosin Mehinti, and Lee got the rebound. Lee hit two free throws with 12.1 seconds left for the Blazers’ final points.
Naz Long missed a 3 that Morris tipped in with 0.4 seconds left, and the Cyclones couldn’t get the ball back before the Blazers started celebrating their gutty victory.
Utah 57, Stephen F. Austin 50•PORTLAND, ore. — Jakob Poeltl had 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Utes’ stout defense thwarted the usually high-scoring Lumberjacks, who were held well under their season average of 79.5 points.
Ty Charles led No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin (29-5) with 14 points.
Jordan Loveridge added 12 points for Utah (25-8), which led by as many as 12 points in the second half.
Eastern Washington vs. Georgetown•PORTLAND, ore. — Late game.
