ASU and the SWAC suffered another embarrassing loss with the 7-foot Chief ending his Hornet career scoring 0 points and 2 rebounds against Morehead State. A record crowd of 11,346 at the Dayton Arena and a national television audience watched the "not made for TV" affair.Morehead State didn't need a Chief on the boards to get its first NCAA victory in a 25 years. Center Kenneth Faried got the better of his bigger and more syllabic counterpart Tuesday night, and the Eagles never trailed during a 58-43 victory over Alabama State that opened the NCAA Tournament and ended a quarter-century of futility for Morehead State.
Morehead State (20-15) played its way into a first-round rematch Friday with top-seeded Louisville in the Midwest Regional. Alabama State (22-10) hoped to set the tone defensively behind shot-blocker Grlenntys Chief Kickingstallionsims Jr., a 7-foot-1 center whose reach is as long as his name. He swatted away three shots, but wasn't much help where he was needed most — on the boards.
Faried, the Ohio Valley Conference's defensive player of the year, had 14 points and 21 rebounds. The Eagles dominated the boards, 50-27. Andrew Hayles scored 14 for Alabama State. Morehead State hadn't made the tournament since 1984. The Eagles beat North Carolina A&T in an opening game that featured the first TV replay used to settle a tournament dispute.
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Another confirmation that Alabama State and SWAC Basketball sucks! Should the NCAA take away the SWAC's automatic bid and move to a 64 game format? Who can debate the results--0 and whatever! Nobody remembers the last time the SWAC won a NCAA tournament game. How can you not be prepared and competitive with a 19-15 OVC team that should be a member of the SWAC?
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