Friday, March 2, 2018

MEAC tournament bracket and predictions: Top-seed Hampton makes for an interesting storyline

HAMPTON, Virginia -- Returning the conference’s leading scorer and Defensive Player of the Year from a season ago, many picked Morgan State as the favorite to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. On Thursday, the Bears ended their regular season with a loss to the struggling four-win Delaware State Hornets and have now lost three of their last four games.

When the dust settled on the MEAC’s regular season Thursday night, there was a three-way tie at the top of the conference, with three teams sporting 12-4 league records. By way of a tiebreaker, Hampton grabbed the top seed for the MEAC’s post-season tournament, a first-round bye and the MEAC’s NIT berth by having the best head-to-head record and a better winning percentage than Savannah State and Bethune Cookman.

For the first time since 2013, all 13 MEAC teams will play in its post-season tournament.

Hampton enters the tournament as the conference’s hottest team, having won seven straight games. The Pirates are led by Jermaine Marrow, who is averaging 19.8 points per-game. The 6-foot sophomore is also averaging about five assists and five rebounds per-game. In 15 games this season, he’s scored at least 20 points.

According to KenPom, Hampton is the highest ranked MEAC team at No. 240.

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