The Big Ten Tournament Champion dropped out of the NCAA Men’s Tournament.
No. 12 Richmond knocked out No. 5 Iowa in a 67-63 victory on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Midwest region. The Spiders’ Nathan Cayo had two huge paint buckets in the last 90 seconds of the game, while Richmond got a little help with no decision from the judges on three missed by Iowa’s Chris Murray.
Murray attempted to make a triple with a minute left and the Hawkeyes fell behind, 60–57. Matt Grace of Richmond visibly hit him on the arm, but there was no whistle. That’s how bad the missed call was.
Richmond caught the rebound after Murray’s shot missed the basket and Cayo scored and was fouled, giving the Spiders a six-point lead they would never concede from, though there was still some drama before the final signal.
Iowa immediately stole the pass and got the basket, cutting the lead to four with less than 30 seconds left. However, Richmond point guard Jacob Gilyard converted both free throws with 15 seconds to go and returned two balls to the Spiders. Iowa never had a chance to get a potentially decisive game, as Gilyard made two more free throws with five seconds left.
Nearly 10% of the time in the Yahoo Tourney Pick’Em, the Hawks headed to the Final Four despite their No. 5 seed status, while in just over 11% of the draws, the Spiders took the lead on Thursday. The Atlantic-10 champions made it into the tournament with disappointment from Davidson in the A-10 championship game and were 10.5 points underdogs into Thursday’s game.
Richmond victory ninth for the school as a No. 12 seed or worse in the NCAA tournament since the tournament was seeded in 1979. No other team has more than four wins as a low seed during this period.
The loss also continues an embarrassing streak for Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. Its teams have appeared in 11 NCAA Tournaments and have never made the Sweet 16. Iowa was one of the highest scoring teams during the season, averaging 84 points per game. But Richmond controlled the pace throughout the game and blocked the Iowa shooters.
The story goes on
The Hawks were just 6 of 29 from behind the three-point line, with Keegan Murray and Patrick McCaffery shooting 15 of 24 field goals made. The four players who came off the bench for the Hawkeyes scored 3-of-16 from the field.
Meanwhile, Gilyard’s free throws completed a fantastic play by the senior point guard. He had 24 points to lead all scorers and had six rebounds and six assists. The Spiders will play Providence on Saturday in the second round after the No. 4 Friars beat No. 13 South Dakota State earlier Thursday afternoon.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK – MARCH 17: Jacob Gilyard #0 of the Richmond Spiders celebrates a first half victory against the Iowa Hawkins in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the KeyBank Center on March 17, 2022 in Buffalo, New York . (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)