WASHINGTON (February 28, 2025) – Howard University men's basketball team battles rival North Carolina Central (NCCU) Saturday (March 1) inside the McDougal-McLendon arena in Durham, N.C. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
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GAME 29
EVENT: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) matchup
PARTICIPANTS: Howard (Bison) at North Carolina Central (Eagles)
DATE: March 1, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
LOCATION: McDougal-McLendon Arena in Durham, N.C.
LAST TIMEOUT
HOWARD
Monday (Feb. 24), the Bison suffered a 72-61 road loss at Coppin State inside PEC Arena in Baltimore. Freshman standout
Blake Harper (Washington) led the way with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe.
NCCU
NC Central (11-17, 4-7 MEAC) dropped a 68-59 decision to Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) on the road Wednesday (Feb. 26) for its third straight defeat and fifth-in-the-last-six contests. The Eagles were led by Perry Smith, Jr., with 18 points and eight rebounds and Po'Boigh King with 15 points.
LAST TIME THE TWO MET
On Feb. 8, senior guard
Marcus Dockery (Washington) scored a game-high 21 points and Harper added 18 points but it was an outstanding effort from the reserves that helped the Bison hold off NCCU,82-78, at Burr Gymnasium.
The Eagles were led by King, who scored all 16 of his points in the first half. Keishon Porter chipped in with 15 points.
SERIES RECORD
Howard won the most recent matchup (Feb. 8), 82-72, inside Burr Gymnasium. The Eagles hold a 14-8 advantage since 2011.
THE COACHES
Howard is led by
Kenneth Blakeney (Duke, '95), who is in his sixth season and has led the Bison to two straight MEAC Tournament titles and NCAA appearances. NCCU is coached by Levelle Moton (NCCU, '96), who is in his 16
th season at his alma mater.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
HOWARD PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name 2024-25 Stats
15
Cameron Shockley-Okeke 11.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 40-percent 3FG% & 67 3FGM
1
Anwar Gill 7.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg & team-leading 101 assists
5
Marcus Dockery 16.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 59 assists & 51-percent FG%
7
Blake Harper 19.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 98 assists, 27 steals & 81-percent FT%
14
Ayodele Taiwo 2.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 35 blocks & 56-percent FG%
HOWARD KEY RESERVES
No. Name 2024-25 Stats
3
Jaren Johnson 5.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg & 88-percent FT%
8
Joshua Strong 5.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg & 79-percent FT%
NCCU PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name 2024-25 Stats
12 Perry Smith, Jr. 10.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 61-percent FG% & 17 blocks
35 Po'Boigh King 16.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg & 64 3FGM
1 Keishon Porter 11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg & 38 steals
2 Dionte Johnson 5.4 ppg & 2.4 rpg
55 Jaqai Murray 6.1 ppg & 4.6 rpg
NCCU KEY RESERVES
No. Name 2024-25 Stats
11 Isaac Parson 8.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg & team-high 116 assists
14 Floyd Rideau, Jr. 6.5 ppg & 1.6 rpg
MEAC STATS
HOWARD
The Bison lead the MEAC in three-point shooting (38-percent), three-pointers made per game (8.6) and assists (16.46).
Individually, Harper leads the conference in scoring (19.5 ppg), second in rebounding (6.4 per game), third in minutes played (34.6), fourth in assists (3.5), fifth in free throw shooting (81-percent) and sixth in assists/turnover ratio…Dockery ranks second in minutes played (34.6 per game) and three-pointers made (2.4 per game), fourth in field goal shooting (51-percent) and ninth in scoring (14.8)…graduate guard
Joshua Strong (Minneapolis) is 10
th in three-pointers made per game…graduate guard
Anwar Gill (Washington) is second in assists (3.9) and eighth in assists/turnover ratio…redshirt junior forward
Ayodele Taiwo (Lagos, Nigeria) leads the MEAC in blocked shots.
NCCU
The Eagles lead the MEAC in three-point shooting defense (30-percent), team offensive rebounding (13.8), turnover margin and assists/turnover margin.
Individually, King is fourth in three pointers made per game (2.3), fifth in scoring (16.5), sixth in free throw shooting (76-percent), eighth field goal shooting (44-percent ) and ninth in steals…Porter is fourth in steals and seventh free throw shooting (73-percent)…Isaac Parson leads the conference in assists (4.5) and assists/turnover ratio…Dionte Johnson ranks third in assists (3.9) and in assists/turnover ratio and seventh in steals…Smith, Jr., ranks eighth in rebounding (5.6)
NATIONAL STATS
Howard is ranked 14
th in three-point shooting (39-percent) and 32
nd in assists (16.46).
Individually, Harper ranks second to Tre Johnson (Texas) among all freshmen in scoring and tied for 27
th overall…Harper is one of a few players to have recorded a triple-double this season.
GAME NOTES
BISON NOTES
Harper has established himself as one of the top freshmen in the country, being named MEAC Rookie of the Week for a record-setting and unprecedented 16 times this season while winning MEAC Player of the Week three times…Harper is one of a handful of Division I players to have recorded a triple-double this season…Harper has recorded four double-doubles this season while scoring 30 or more points four times, including a career-high 35 points versus UMES (Feb. 1)…Harper has reached double figures in 23 straight games this season...Harper needs two assists to reach 100 career dimes…Dockery is quietly having his best all-around season in a Bison uniform, continuing to be the premier long-ball shooter in the conference for the third straight season…Dockery ranks second the conference in three-point shooting percentage (41-percent) and three-pointers made per game (2.4)…Dockery has scored in double figures 14 straight games while reaching 20 points seven times this season…Dockery flourished in other areas of his game, including shooting a career-best 51-percent from the field, 41-percent from downtown and 81-percent from the charity stripe…Dockery is scheduled to set a new season high in assists...Dockery, who is a member of the 1,000-point club (1,253 points), currently ranks third on the school's all-time list for three-pointers made (238) in a career behind J
ames "J-Bird" Daniel, III (245) and
Charles "CJ" Williams (248)…graduate forward
Cameron Shockley-Okeke (Norwalk, Conn.) has reached double figures in scoring 10-of-the-last-12 games…The Bison are averaging almost 17 assists per game and limiting opponents to 31-percent shooting from the three-point line…A nemesis for Howard has been the turnover where they are surrendering 18 points a contest off their miscues, ranking last in the conference in that category…Howard has now played with 12 different starting lineups, the most in the past 10 years…Taiwo has come up big for the Bison of late…In the road win at Morgan State (Feb. 22), Taiwo recorded career-high 14 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks, just missing his first career double-double…The 11 blocked shots by Taiwo versus NCCU (Feb. 1) were the second most in school history behind
Grady Livingston, who set the school record with 12 blocks during the 1993-94 season.
EAGLE NOTES
NCCU struggled in the loss to UMES, shooting 4-of-19 (21-percent) from downtown and 9-of-17 (52-percent) from the free throw line.
NEXT UP
NCCU hosts Norfolk State Monday (March 3) at 7:30 p.m. Howard concludes its four-game MEAC road swing at South Carolina State Monday (March 3) in Orangeburg, S.C. at 7:30 p.m.
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.
