The NCAA Tournament got underway on Thursday and there were a number of upsets, including the number 14-seed UAB Blazers winning over number 3-seeded Iowa State in an exciting matchup and that came along with another 14-3 upset with Georgia State winning over Baylor.
The Blazers pulled one of the biggest upsets of the tournament and busted a number of brackets in the process, as Iowa State won the Big 12 this year and was predicted to go far by many in college basketball. UAB athletics has been through a tough year with the football program getting shut down and now the basketball team is into the round of 32 and now they will play against UCLA.
The Bruins had a wild game with SMU and they ended up winning 57-56 on a controversial call and now they will play against the Blazers next. UAB was able to come back against the Cyclones to win on Thursday while getting the last four points from William Lee, winning the game 60-59 UAB had not won a tournament game since back in 2005 and the team was able to come back from four points down with three minutes left in the game.
Iowa State made a run to the Sweet 16 last year despite not having their best player and while Georges Niang and this year they were expected to make another deep push. Niang was active this time around and it didn't end up working out despite the Cyclones winning the Big 12 for a second straight year. The Blazers simply were better at the end of the game and UAB was able to take the lead after a jumper from Lee and he was able to hit free throws at the end as well.
Check here for the NCAA bracket and score results.
"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."
