No. 12 Richmond pulls off 67-63 upset over No. 5 Iowa in first round

The No. 12 Richmond Spiders probably shouldn’t have even been playing on Thursday afternoon. Instead, the Spiders are on their way to the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament after upsetting the No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes the first round out of the Midwest Region. The Spiders held on for a 67-63 victory and will advance to face No. 4 Providence in the second round on Saturday.

The Hawkeyes had the second-best offense in adjusted efficiency this season but picked the wrong day to have a poor shooting performance. The Big Ten Tournament champions put up just 28 points in the first half and shot just 36.4% from the field on the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Richmond kept the pressure on and forced Iowa to play from behind for most the of the game. The Spiders went up by as many as eight late into the second half and successfully held off a late comeback by the Hawkeyes. Jacob Gilyard led with 24 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Richmond was able to make a surprise run through the A-10 Tournament last week to get into the dance and now finds itself just one win away from a Sweet 16 berth.