CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers came into Friday’s game with the same sort of confidence that the 135 No. 16 seeds before them had. On any given night, if everything breaks your way, maybe you can pull it off. And more times than not, any casual observer can see that confidence start to fade as the overmatched opponent tries to keep up appearances for the nationally-televised audience and alumni in the stands.
But not for the Retrievers on Friday night. Point guard K.J. Maura was shooting a bow and arrow from the floor toward his bench after a made three-pointer in the first half and, after going into halftime tied at 21 with the top overall seed in the tournament, UMBC raced to a six-point lead before a minute of the second half had elapsed.