UAB shocks South No. 3 seed Iowa State to advance in NCAA tournament
It was just five days ago that Iowa State capped a championship run through the Big 12 tournament with a win over Kansas. Now, the Cyclones, the No. 3 seed in the South Region, are headed home as the first victim of March Madness.
No. 14 UAB, a team that finished fifth in Conference USA in the regular season, shut down Georges Niang and used 19 offensive rebounds to propel itself to a 60-59 upset of Iowa State in Louisville on Thursday. UAB junior guard Robert Brown led all scorers with 21 points.
NCAA tournament viewing guide: What, when and where to watch Day 1
Early on, it appeared the Blazers wouldn’t present much of a challenge. The Cyclones opened up a 12-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes, and UAB had six missed shots and two turnovers on its first nine possessions. The Blazers rallied back, however, outscoring Iowa State 29-16 for the rest of the first half and taking a three-point lead into the locker room. The teams traded blows for most of the second half, but it looked like the Cyclones would survive after a Monte Morris layup and two Niang free throws gave them a four-point edge with three minutes left.
With just less than a minute remaining, UAB trailed 55-53 but had the ball underneath the Iowa State basket. A beautiful inbounds play resulted in an open three on the right wing from Brown, and he buried it to give the Blazers the lead. Morris answered immediately, getting a short jumper in the lane to put the Cyclones back in front. UAB wasted no time counterpunching, scoring 15 seconds later on a foul line jumper from William Lee for the 13th and final lead change of the second half.
Sports Illustrated experts pick their 2015 NCAA tournament brackets
The Blazers, as they had done all day, threw a double team at Niang when he tried to drive the baseline on the ensuing possession. Instead of passing out of it, Niang threw up a terrible shot that wasn't close. Lee grabbed the rebound and made both free throws to put UAB up 60-57 with 12 seconds remaining.
Despite the fact that UAB still had multiple fouls to give and likely could have drained the clock without even letting Iowa State get a shot off, the Cyclones had a great look at a game-tying shot. But Naz Long, a 40% marksman from deep, missed an elbow three-pointer that would have tied the score. Morris tipped in the miss but with 0.4 seconds left, it didn’t mean anything.
UAB owned the backboards, finishing with a 52-37 edge on the glass, and limited Niang to 11 points of 4-of-15 shooting.
Iowa State was a chic Final Four pick out of the South Regional. Instead, the Cyclones are headed back to Ames while UAB, which entered last week's C-USA tournament 16-15 and needed to blaze an unlikely trail just to get into the field, keeps on dancing.
Game Flow: UAB upsets Iowa State | PointAfter
