The University of Alabama at Birmingham produced the first major upset of the NCAA tournament on Thursday afternoon with a stunning 60-59 win over Iowa State in Louisville, marking the third straight year a No14 seed has knocked off a No3 seed.
UAB freshman William Lee drained a jumper with 23.6 left to give the Blazers one-point lead and sank a pair of free throws with 12.1 left to seal the program’s first NCAA tournament win since 2005.
Iowa State, ranked ninth nationally, entered as a trendy Final Four pick after rallying from behind in each of their three Big 12 conference tournament games last week to win the title and secure a No3 seed in the South Regional. But they were out-rebounded 52-37 – and 19-9 on the offensive glass – by the youngest team in the NCAA tournament.
While it’s relatively rare for a No14 to defeat a No3 in the round of 64 – it’s happened 19 times in 121 games since the tournament expanded in 1985 – UAB’s win marks the third straight year a No3 has crashed out early after Mercer’s upset of Duke last year and Harvard’s win over New Mexico in 2013.
UAB junior guard Robert Brown scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-19 from the floor. Monte Morris paced the Cyclones with 15 points, four assists and four steals.
The Blazers will play the winner of Thursday’s game between No6 SMU and No11 UCLA (3.10pm ET, truTV).
