NCAA Bracket: Coach Jerod Haase's #14 Blazers beat #3 Iowa

South Tahoe High graduate Jerod Haase's University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) basketball team has the first upset of March Madness!

No. 14 seed UAB shocked No. 3 Iowa State, 60-59. ISU was considered by many people to be a potential sleeper to advance to the Final Four. Typically one of the most exciting and most efficient offensive teams in the country, ISU could not pull away as it missed easy shots near the rim and beyond the arc.

UAB did not shoot well, either, but as soon as it looked like Iowa State was pulling away, the Blazers hit a three with 50 seconds left — their first in 10 tries — to take the lead. The Blazers dominated the offensive boards all game, and it paid off in the end as they hit their shots when it counted.

Now, UAB will face the winner of No. 6 SMU vs No. 11 UCLA.

The first game of the NCAA Tournament nearly gave us a major upset, too, when No. 3 Notre Dame held off No. 11 Northeastern, 69-65, in a too-close-for-comfort win in Pittsburgh. Northeastern kept it close in the first half, and just when it looked like Notre Dame was going to run away with the game in the second half, the Huskies stormed back to bring it within four with 45 seconds left.

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