Last year, Duke lost in the first round of the tournament to a team nobody had ever heard of, Mercer. Today, after Notre Dame nearly was upset in the first game, the second game of the tournament turned out to give fans the first bracket-buster of the season.
In a game that was close for the majority of the game, UAB actually led at the half, playing fantastic defense - Iowa State, who could not get any good looks deep in the post. Georges Niang, Iowa State's best player thus far, was held to 11 points, going 4-15 from the field, almost constantly double teamed, and he also could not hits what would have the game winning shot late in the 2nd half. He also had 7 rebounds and four turnovers in his last game this year.
UAB's top scorer was Robert Brown, who had 21 points for the Blazers, going 7-19 including 3-7 from beyond the arc. William Lee had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Tyler Madison came off the bench with 9 points and 11 rebounds, 9 of which were offensive rebounds.
Both teams shot poorly, as defense seemed to be the story of the day. Iowa State actually had better field goal percentage, and three point percentage, however in a game that ended 60-59, free throws are what made the difference, and UAB shot 9-11 from the line compared to Iowa State's 5-7.
Iowa State goes home from Louisville with a bunch of things to question about their game, most notably their shooting, however UAB goes on to play the winner of SMU - UCLA in a round of 32 game where they look to pull off another upset and bust even more brackets than they already have. They must improve their shooting to keep going, as they can not shoot less than 35% against SMU or UCLA to move on.