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Final Score: Howard 86, UMBC 83.
Despite missing three of four free throws in the final minute, Howard earns its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory! The Bison have won nine straight games while UMBC loses its first game since late January, snapping a 12-game winning streak! Howard will play #1 Michigan on Thursday. Howard's Ose Okoje is the player of the game, finishing 9-15 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three after making 12 threes all season, en route to a career-high 23 points. The Bison's 6-4 forward Bryce Harris deserves a lot of credit, hitting a big fadeaway late, notching 12 points and 8 rebounds in the second half, and finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Make the jump to see the game's final stats and my live running reactions.
Second Half, Final Reactions
Howard survives 86-83 as Armstrong misses a game-tying three at the buzzer. Bison guard Isaiah Brown makes the front end of the one-and-one before missing the second. With no timeouts, UMBC rushes the ball up court, and Armstrong is unable to hit a three from just inside the half-court circle.
Howard leads 85-83 with 6.6 seconds left. King makes a layup, and Howard is forced to call a timeout, just avoiding a five-second call. Possession arrow is with UMBC.
Howard leads 85-81 with 13.1 seconds remaining. Harris hits a big fadeaway at the end of the shot clock. Howard is granted a timeout when it seems that UMBC had already inbounded the ball.
Howard leads 83-81 with 43.2 seconds remaining. Armstrong buries a thee after Gillus misses the front end of another one-and one. Timeout UMBC, its last one.
Howard leads 85-83 with 6.6 seconds left. King makes a layup, and Howard is forced to call a timeout, just avoiding a five-second call. Possession arrow is with UMBC.
Howard leads 85-81 with 13.1 seconds remaining. Harris hits a big fadeaway at the end of the shot clock. Howard is granted a timeout when it seems that UMBC had already inbounded the ball.
Howard leads 83-81 with 43.2 seconds remaining. Armstrong buries a thee after Gillus misses the front end of another one-and one. Timeout UMBC, its last one.
Howard leads 83-76 with 54 seconds remaining. Gillus misses the front end of a one-and-one, and Diggs draws a foul, fouling out Howard's Taylor. Diggs hits both free throws.
Howard leads 83-74 with 1:13 remaining. The refs are reviewing Harris' fourth foul after accidentally hitting Armstrong in the face. It is ruled a common foul. Armstrong makes both free throws.
Howard leads 83-74 with 1:54 remaining after a Diggs layup and UMBC timeout. Okoje had a big put back to extend the Howard lead to eleven points and now has a career-high 23 points.
Second Half, Under-4 Live Reactions
Howard leads 81-72 with 3:19 remaining. This was a frenetic and sloppy four minutes, which favored Howard. Gillus just hit a big runner to put the Bison up 9 points. After missing four straight open threes, Taylor finally hit an open three during this stretch. UMBC went about three minutes without scoring before Ace Valentine made two free throws and hit a big three. Howard is 6/12 from three this half, UMBC 3/8. Amazingly, Howard hasn't played Bryson this half. Gillus is having a great game as the Howard floor general.
Second Half, Under-8 Live Reactions
Howard leads 72-67 with 7:43 remaining. The Retrievers are coming, making its last six field goals. Diggs has been a revelation this half, during which he has 10 points and is attacking the basket and doing some work in the mid-range. Harris hit a big three for Howard, which may be 9-for-19 from beyond the arc, but is settling for too many threes this half. Taylor has missed three threes this half and is on the bench with four fouls. UMBC is shooting the one-and-one the rest of the way. Somehow, the Retrievers have a shot here when it looked like UMBC was dead in the water. With the exception of Gillus, Howard is struggling to penetrate. There seems to have been a shift to pack in the defense a bit and let Howard hit the trifecta.
Second Half, Under-12 Live Reactions
Howard leads 66-58 with 11:56 remaining. The Bison had its largest lead at 14 after an Alex Cotton three with 14:44 remaining. However, the Bison have been sloppy with its half-court passing and is starting to settle for threes as a tired UMBC team has seemingly found a reserve of energy. Howard has committed five fouls this half, and Okoje has 4 personals. UMBC has committed only 1 foul so far this half. UMBC is hanging in thanks to tough interior play from 6-8 sophomore Caden Diggs. King is forcing his offense, shooting an airball and just dribbling the ball out of bounds off his foot after overpenetrating.
Second Half, Under-16 Live Reactions
Howard leads 63-51 with 15:18 to go. UMBC got the game to 10 points on a DJ Armstrong Jr. three late in the possession, but Harris responded with a driving bucket. Harris has come out of the half like a gangbuster, and the Bison seemingly can get to the rim whenever wanted. It is hard seeing UMBC winning this game.
Howard leads 61-48 with 16:21 to go, leading to a UMBC timeout. The Retrievers are trying to attack the rim, but missing layups and overpenetrating a bit. The Bison are killing UMBC getting the ball up court quickly, with point guard Cam Gillus doing a great job. Harris just hit a three and had an offensive put back during this first stretch. UMBC's King is trying to keep the Retrievers in the game, scoring five points this half already. However, he was out of control on the last possession, leading to a Harris three in the secondary break. This pace favors Howard and UMBC is in trouble. 6-7 Howard forward Cedric Taylor III is having a sneaky good game attacking the rim.
Second Half Thoughts
UMBC should consider itself lucky to be down only 8 points after playing what Ferry called an "abnormal" first half. Howard is doing a great job getting to the rim and attacking the offensive glass, leading to a 21-14 overall edge in rebounding. UMBC must limit its fouls and continue this aggressive zone, which seemed to confuse Howard a bit in the middle. If Howard keeps up the activity and energy, the Bison should get its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The Bison have definitely dictated style of play. Let's see what happens in the last 20 minutes. The first-four minutes will be telling, specifically UMBC's energy. Jah'Likai King has tried to keep the Retrievers in the game with 10 points. Okoje (16 points) and Bryson (11 points) are leading the Bison, which is getting a nice all-around game from star Bryce Harris (7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and several contests at the rim). UMBC surrendered 49 first-half points, the most in the first half all season.
Halftime Stats
Halftime Live Reactions
Howard leads 49-41 at the break. Well, UMBC got the game to eight with a layup at the buzzer by Cougar Downing (great name by the way). A switch to a more active zone sped up Howard a bit, leading to a turnover and dunk for 6-9 freshman Riley Jacobs. Howard is getting a big game off the bench from sophomore forward Travelle Bryson, who had a baseline lob dunk over the top of the zone and a big jumper. Bryson has 12 points and only averages 9 a game. Okoje and Bryson are outperforming their normal scoring averages, and UMBC is fouling way more than average. The Retrievers have 11 fouls at the break (they average around 13 fouls a game), and Howard has capitalized by going 13/16 from the free throw line.
First Half, Under-4 Timeout: Live Reactions
Howard leads 41-30 with 3:42 remaining. Howard is in the midst of a 10-0 run and heading to the free throw line out of the break (the Bison are already shooting in the double bonus). Okoje hit a big three late in the shot clock while the Retrievers have missed three straight free throws, including the front end of a one-and-one. This is a dangerous four minutes for UMBC, which needs to hang in and try to get this game to about eight at the break. Howard has the fresher and more active legs, and has been the better team the first sixteen minutes.
UMBC takes a timeout with 5:23 remaining, trailing 36-30. Howard senior guard Ose Okoje has been the best player on the floor, surpassing his 10.5 points per game average with 13 points already. This game is boiling down to the offensive boards. Howard has 6, UMBC O. The Bison have seven second-chance points. UMBC Head Coach Jim Ferry noted his team looks like it doesn't have its legs after travel issues.
First Half, Under-8 Timeout: Live Reactions
Howard leads 28-24 with 7:43 remaining. This was the best offensive stretch for the Retrievers, with D.J. Armstrong getting an And-1 at the hoop. The Retrievers had a bad turnover against the press, leading to a Howard layup, but then went over-the-top of the press for an easy layup themselves. UMBC had made four straight shots at one point. It feels like UMBC is tilting this game a bit, getting more into the lane, and hitting some threes. Howard's activity on the offensive glass has been huge so far. Note: Howard is in the bonus the rest of the half.
First Half, Under-12 Timeout: Live Reactions
Howard leads 19-13 with 11:33 remaining. Make that 10 paint points for the Bison, who are dictating a frenetic pace. The Bison have hit its last two threes. UMBC is getting into late offense, missing its last two threes and having two forced turnovers. UMBC's DJ Armstrong Jr. has hit a couple of tough shots late in the shot clock to keep the Retrievers in the game. Howard will be shooting two free throws out of the break.
First Half, Under-16 Timeout: Live Reactions
Howard Leads 14 -11 with 13:59 to go. The Bison are the more aggressive team, using full-court pressure that is forcing UMBC into early threes (2/5 so far). The Bison are also attacking the rim, specifically from the left side of the court. Howard has 8 points in the paint. UMBC started with a 4-0 lead before going in a drought. The Terriers made a nice adjustment by attacking the rim, cutting a 9-4 deficit to 9-8. There is a nice pace to this game so far.
Pregame Prediction: Toss Up
When it comes to First Four games between small-conference #16 seeds, you never know what you are going to get, though I have noticed some patterns during the years. Usually, one school comes out hot and builds a double-digit lead before the other squad rallies, leading to a close finish. With that said, you might as well flip a coin so that is what I am going to do. Heads will be UMBC, tails will be Howard. Best two out of three. Flip #1: Tails (Howard). Flip #2: Heads (UMBC). Flip #3: Heads (UMBC). There it goes. UMBC will win. Insert shrug emoji. Honestly, I would like Howard Head Coach Kenny Blakeney to get a win as he was a dignified reserve on Duke's 1992 title team, unlike the typically entitled modern benchwarmers for the Blue Devils. Whatever the case, the winner gets #1 seed Michigan on Thursday. Good luck to whatever team has to handle the Wolverines' frontcourt of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, Jr., and Aday Mara, especially after Michigan's loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game.
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