WASHINGTON - Now, the fun begins for the Howard University men's basketball team.
After finishing its schedule with a flourish that resulted in a 20-point home victory over Norfolk State on national television, Howard captured its first outright regular season Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship since 1987.
With 19 regular season victories and an impressive 11-3 conference record, the Bison earned the No. 1 seed in next week's MEAC Tournament and will begin its championship chase against No. 8 South Carolina State (5-25 overall, 2-12 MEAC) on Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m. inside of the spacious Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
If Howard wins its quarterfinal contest, it will enjoy a day off before meeting the winner of the No. 4 Maryland-Eastern Shore (17-12, 9-5) and No. 5 Morgan State (15-15, 7-7) game on Friday, March 10 at 6 p.m. in the first of two semifinals. The UMES-Morgan State game will be played Thursday night.
The other MEAC quarterfinal contests are No. 2 North Carolina Central (17-11, 10-4) against No. 7 Delaware State (6-23, 4-10) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. and No. 3 Norfolk State (20-10, 9-5)
against No. 6 Coppin State (9-22, 4-10) on Thursday at 8 p.m.
The quarterfinal and semifinal games will be streamed live on ESPN+. The men's finale will begin at 1 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPN2.
The winner earns the MEAC automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Howard last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 1992 where it lost to Kansas in a first-round game in Dayton, Ohio.
The Bison swept the Bulldogs in a pair of meetings during the 2022-23 campaign. Howard defeated South Carolina State, 100-74, at Burr Gym on Jan. 30. The Bison escaped with an 82-78 triumph last week in Orangeburg, S.C.
Howard has won three straight games against South Carolina State and four of the last five meetings. Included in those wins was a 70-63 victory in the first round of the 2020 MEAC Tournament.
Howard has been paced by its balanced offense which features six players averaging at least nine points:
Elijah Hawkins (13.4 points per game), Steve Settle II (11.3),
Shy Odom (10.6),
Marcus Dockery (9.7),
Jordan Wood (9.2) and
Jelani Williams (9.2).
The Bison lead the MEAC in 3-point shooting (38 percent), is second in 3-pointers made per game (8.1), in free-throw shooting (72.2 percent) and third in field-goal shooting (46.0 percent), in rebounding (35.1 per game) and in assists (14.6 per game).
For more information, visit
meacsports.com or the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.
