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adam ritenberg
multiple authors
DAYTON, OHIO — When Kenny Blakeney arrived HowardHe took over a program that had been near the bottom of Division I for decades.
“Howard was the 354th-ranked team in the country for the last 20 years,” Blakeney said. “For me, it was great, because there was nothing else to do but move forward and make it a better program.”
Despite only four wins in his first season and a second campaign limited to just five games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blakeney began to improve on Howard. A winning season followed. Then back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
But Howard still had not won a game in March Madness. The Bison had “a box to check off,” which Blakeney stressed to his team before Tuesday’s First Four matchup umbc At UD Arena.
Despite a late scare, No. 16 seed Howard ended the night with a checkmark next to its name, sweeping No. 16 UMBC. 86-83. The Bison now head to Buffalo, New York, where they will face the No. 1 seed michigan Thursday in a first-round Midwest Region matchup.
“Being on this stage and being able to check off this box, it’s the only game going on right now, and I’m pretty sure the entire college basketball world was focused on it,” Blakeney said. “So, what an amazing accomplishment.”
Howard led by 11 points in less than two minutes, but bryce harris‘A turnaround jumper before the shot clock expired cut the Bison’s advantage to four with 13 seconds remaining. UMBC had a chance to equalize in the final seconds, but dj armstrong jrMissed 3-point attempt.
“We have been in games like this before, we practice for these situations,” he said. ose okojieJoe led Howard with a career-high 23 points and played most of the final 12:33 with four fouls. “There was nothing that we were worried about or anything like that. Because on this big stage, there is no time to be afraid. There is no time to worry.
“You have to be confident in your work.”
Too overwhelmed to address the team afterward, Blakeney turned things over to Harris, the fifth-year leader who has watched Howard climb every rung toward respectability. Harris, who posted 19 points and 14 rebounds against UMBC, reminded the team of last season, when Howard fell to 12–20 and both he and Okojie were out with injuries. Okojie had suffered a defeat against UMBC of all opponents.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Harris said, “how you’re winning your first NCAA Tournament game against the team you got hurt against.”
Howard led 49-41 at halftime behind Okojie and others and went on to lead by 14 in the second half. But the UMBC team is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since its historic elimination. Virginia The Retrievers were the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed — in 2018 — and wouldn’t go away.
“They’re a very talented team,” Harris said.
Blakeney grew up near Howard in Washington, D.C., but his basketball career was tied to success, unlike the program he would eventually coach. He won the Gatorade Player of the Year award in Maryland while playing for respected coach Morgan Wooten at DeMatha Catholic High School. then went to Blakeney ruler and was part of its national championship teams in 1991 and 1992, before captaining the team as a senior.
When Blakeney took over at Howard, he admitted that he didn’t know how to build a winning culture, let alone follow one. He learned through the tough years and then took the program to the Big Dance. But after a string of failures, including in the First Four two years ago wagnerBlakeney did not say what a victory Tuesday would mean.
He said, “I went to Duke to win championships and I want our young guys to come to Howard to win championships, because the opportunities I’ve had from 1991 and 1992 at the age of 54 are still there.” “If you have a chance to win a championship… there isn’t an alumnus in the country who won’t take your call.”
Bison may have to avoid phone calls moving forward. As he walked off the court, many fans implored him to beat Michigan.
“It’s kind of surreal,” said Okojie, who will play the next game near his hometown of Brampton, Ontario. “You watch this tournament as a kid, and winning games is crazy.”
