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Kansas State beat Creighton 69-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the first such win with Bruce Weber as head coach. The Wildcats are now 11-5 in the first round all-time and 35-33 overall in the tournament.
Our own Luke Sobba has more HERE.
The win was due in large part to a standout performance from freshman Mike McGuirl who put up a career-high 17 points and ensured that Dean Wade’s absence was not a liability for the team. Joining him in double digits were Barry Brown (18) and Kamau Stokes (11). Xavier Sneed added nine points.
This was, however, a feather in the cap for Kansas State’s defense. The Wildcats stymied Creighton from the start forcing the Blue Jays to go just 1-of-8 in the first five minutes. Ultimately, Creighton shot only 33.8 percent from the floor for the entire game.
If you thought—as the vast majority of basketball experts, casual fans, and people who blindly pick one-seeds in their brackets did—that Kansas State had now earned a date with top-seed Virginia, well, you thought SO SO wrong.
Because this happened, and nothing will ever be the same again:
PUT SOME RESPECK ON IT! WE HAVE DEFEATED NO.1 OVERALL SEED VIRGINIA 74-54
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
That’s right. A 16-seed finally took out a 1-seed when University of Maryland-Baltimore College defeated #1 Virginia. The best part? UMBC absolutely dominated a contest the Retrievers weren’t even supposed to challenge in. This wasn’t just an upset. It was a comprehensive beatdown, a trucking of the sort rarely seen in March. UMBC needed a last minute shot to win its conference tournament to just qualify for the Dance, and now they have done the impossible, the absolute unthinkable. Whatever else the Retrievers in this tournament (and let’s hope it’s not much), this will be forever One Shining Moment.
By the way, as both Harvard and UMBC reminded the world, a 16-seed has defeated a 1-seed before:
.@HarvardWBB was the first, seriously. Don’t ever forget that. They laid the groundwork, it just took us 20 years to catch up https://t.co/UPmd8yLzs9
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
Now that we’ve celebrated UMBC, it’s time to acknowledge that Kansas State is probably the only team in America that doesn’t want UMBC to win its next game. This makes the Wildcats the most hated team in the world, which is exactly where the Wildcats like to be.
I suspect that most of Wildcat Nation is already dreaming of that Sweet Sixteen appearance, but we should maybe put the brakes on that. To wit:
It’s like hearing you have to fight a bunny instead of a bear, except you just saw the bunny straight up murder the bear. #KState
— Fake Willie Wildcat (@FakeWillie) March 17, 2018
March is possibly the best month of the sports calendar, and there is absolutely nothing like the NCAA Tournament. For those of you who cannot get enough, there’s more basketball on the cards today, and thanks to Jon Morse, a March Madness Saturday Open Thread.
Enjoy!