Bracket Buster: No. 12 Richmond Stuns Big Ten Champ No. 5 Iowa In Midwest Region
The wait that was worth it: Making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, Richmond (24-12) is moving on to the Second Round after a 67-63 victory over Iowa (26-10) Thursday.
It's the first big upset of March Madness season, with the No. 12 seed Spiders taking down the No. 5 Hawkeyes in the First Round of the Midwest region. Richmond will move on to play No. 4 seed Providence in the Second Round, in a spot they never expected to be in.
Richmond was to be on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament once again, unless they found a way to win the Atlantic 10 tournament. But this is March, meaning that anything can happen. Head coach Chris Mooney's team earned the league's automatic bid, bringing us to Thursday's upset.
Senior guard Jacob Gilyard was the difference maker for the Spiders, scoring 18 points on 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc with six assists and six rebounds.
Junior forward Tyler Burton and senior forward Nathan Cayo chipped in with a combined 33 points. Burton was a factor from the charity stripe, making 9-of-10.
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery's team struggled all afternoon from the field, but even more so from the three-point line. Iowa made just 6-of-29 attempts with redshirt sophomore forward Patrick McCaffery and senior guard Jordan Bohannon the only Hawkeyes to convert from outside.
McCaferry finished with 18 points on 7-of-17 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown. Sophomore guard Keegan Murray led the way with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting and nine boards.
It's hardly the ending Iowa envisioned coming off the program's first Big Ten tournament title since 2006. Richmond, meanwhile, gets its eighth win as a 12-seed or lower in the First Round or later of the NCAA Tournament.
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