Backcourt heart of upstart Retrievers

UMBC players celebrate a teammate's basket against Virginia during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
UMBC players celebrate a teammate's basket against Virginia during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jairus Lyles said fellow University of Maryland, Baltimore County guard K.J. Maura is "annoying" in practice. Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said the 5-foot-8, 140-pound junior is "a little pest" after studying game video of him.

Maura broke into a wide smile when relayed the comments - as if he had been paid the biggest compliment in the world.

"Oh, I'm definitely a pest," Maura said, "but I have to do that for my team to be successful - and I try to do that at a high level."

Maura and Lyles, the Retrievers' super smooth combo guard, form the dangerous backcourt of the nation's new favorite underdogs who have broken the NCAA tournament bracket.

They combined for 38 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals Friday night against Virginia, helping UMBC (25-10) to the first win for a No. 16 seed against a No. 1 seed after the previous 135 teams failed. And stopping them is weighing heavily on the mind of Weber, whose ninth-seeded Wildcats (23-11) take on UMBC tonight in the second round.

"Those two guards are very good - and they always say guards win in the tournament," Weber said.

Maura is a diminutive point guard from Puerto Rico who also excels at volleyball. He didn't move to the United States until he was 17 and played a year of junior college basketball before being recruited by UMBC.

He looks more like a high school freshman than a Division I player, joking he's "5-foot-8 on a good day, but 5-foot-7 most of the time." He models his game after Muggsy Bogues, who had a long NBA career despite being undersized, and childhood hero J.J. Barea, the Dallas Mavericks point guard who is also from Puerto Rico.

But Maura doesn't view his lack of size as a hindrance.

"My size is an advantage because a lot of guys are taller than me," Maura said, "and they don't expect me to be pressuring the ball."

Maura hounded Virginia's taller guards with his ball pressure, continuously disrupting the Cavaliers' ability to get into their offensive sets. Weber said he is the type of player no one likes to face in a pickup game.

"He's everywhere and makes plays," the Wildcats coach said, "and he'll steal the ball off you, he'll drive you, flip it back over his shoulder for a 3."

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Lyles is different, fitting the mold of a top-notch Division I player. He was recruited by Shaka Smart and spent one season at Virginia Commonwealth University before transferring to UMBC. He is now playing as a graduate student, already holding a double major in psychology and sociology.

He had a chance to transfer to one of a couple of power conference schools after last season, but he chose to stay at UMBC because of his teammates and school president Freeman Hrabowski, whom he befriended a few years ago.

"I knew I was going to stay there all along," Lyles said. "This is my family. I created a legacy here. I knew we could do things like this. This is one of the reasons I came back."

Lyles has that certain mojo. He sliced through Virginia's top-ranked defense while getting to the hole six times for layups, and he also knocked down three 3-pointers. He finished the game 9-of-11 from the field and had 23 of his 28 points in the pivotal second half.

Lyles also pushed UMBC into the NCAA tournament by hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as the Retrievers topped Vermont in the America East Conference championship game.

Together, Maura and Lyles simply mesh. That was evident Friday night when Maura drove near the top of the key against Virginia and left a blind behind-the-back pass to Lyles, who seemed to know the ball was coming, caught it on the way up and drilled an open 3-pointer.

Both are enjoying their time in the limelight. UMBC players didn't go to sleep until after 4 a.m. Saturday, all of them too filled with adrenaline to even consider nodding off.

"We're just trying to soak it all in" Lyles said.

Once coach Ryan Odom finally sent them back to their rooms, things began to sink in. Maura and roommate Jourdan Grant turned on the television and saw highlights of their historic win on numerous channels and couldn't contain their excitement.

"We just started jumping from bed to bed and hugging each other," Maura said. "That's my brother for life. We are making big things for ourselves, our program and our families."

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