Howard’s return trip to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament features a game against a history-making opponent.
The MEAC champion Bison will face University of Maryland, Baltimore County Tuesday night March 17 at 6:40 p.m. in the NCAA’s “First Four” in Dayton, Ohio. The game will be broadcast on TruTV.
The Retrievers, winners of the America East Conference championship, are making their first NCAA tournament appearance since their historical 2018 run, when they became the first 16th seed to defeat a No. 1 seed. UMBC upset Virginia 74-54 that year.
UMBC (24-8) is led by the guard trio of Jah’Likai King (13.9 points per game, 27 steals), DJ Armstrong Jr. (13.2 points per game, 92.8 percent from the free throw line), and Ace Valentine (12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game).
Howard (23-10) won the MEAC tournament by defeating South Carolina State 78-61 in the semifinals and North Carolina Central 70-63 in the conference championship game.
The Bison are led by wings Bryce Harris and Cedric Taylor III, who have nearly identical stat lines of 17 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Another key to Howard’s success is point guard Cam Gillus. Gillus averages 10.6 points per contest and finished ranked third in the MEAC in both assists (4.6 per game) and steals (1.8 per game).
The winner of this game will face Midwest Region No. 1 seed Michigan in Buffalo, New York on Thursday March 19 at 7:10 p.m. EST.
