NCAA women’s tournament: ASU unfazed by challenge

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Alabama State women’s basketball coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said her players have been great listeners all season long.

That trait has helped to give the Hornets the opportunity to represent their school at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when they take on Florida State in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Tallahassee.

ASU (17-14) earned the automatic bid by winning the SWAC Tournament in Houston and is the No. 15 seed in the Greensboro Regional. Florida State (29-4) enters the game as the No. 2 seed, its highest seed in school history.

Freeman-Jackson said her team will not be intimated by the daunting task.

“They believe in our system,” Freeman-Jackson said. “They know how to persevere and take advantage of opportunities afforded to them. They’re really working hard and really believe in one another.”

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Hey, Hampton fared better than some against Kentucky

PHOTO GALLERY: 
Kentucky takes easy win over Hampton, 79-56

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — After midnight in a cramped and lighthearted locker room, Hampton University guard Breon Key looked into his phone, stood from his chair and began reading aloud a list that included Kansas, Texas, UCLA, Louisville, Providence, Buffalo . . .

Those would be the previous Kentucky opponents Hampton had outscored while taking their uphill turn against the mighty Wildcats on Thursday night in the round of 64 of the NCAA tournament. In fact, among the 35 games that have resulted in 35 Kentucky wins since Nov. 14, the No. 16-seeded Pirates had scored more than 20 Kentucky victims and tied one in their 79-56 first-round loss at the Yum! Center.

They had weathered the occasion with aplomb. They had trailed by 35 points midway through the second half, but they narrowed that considerably from there, and they didn’t suffer any outsized horror such as what happened on Dec. 20 to UCLA, which fell behind Kentucky 24-0 at the outset.

“A pretty great experience,” Hampton guard Brian Darden said. “The atmosphere. Playing against the number-one team. You get to test yourself, see how well you do.”

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MACU makes 14 3's, eliminates Gold Rush 84-70 at nationals

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- Xavier University of Louisiana's men's basketball season ended Thursday after an 84-70 loss to Mid-America Christian in the opening round of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship at Municipal Auditorium.

Junior guard Morris Wright scored 22 of his career-high 27 points in the second half for the Gold Rush (24-10), ranked 19th in the coaches poll and unseeded in the tournament.

The Evangels (24-10), ranked and seeded 13th, made 14 3-pointers and won in their first trip to the NAIA's national tournament. Jerrick Massenburge, one of five double-figure scorers for MACU, made 4-of-4 3-pointers in the second half and scored 17 points.

MACU, from Oklahoma City and the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season champion, scored the first eight points and never trailed. The Evangels led 38-28 at halftime and 77-53 after Massenburge made his final 3-pointer with 6:41 remaining.

Wright scored 10 points in the final 7:37 and led Xavier in a closing 17-7 run.

Sydney Coleman had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Gold Rush. Anthony Goode and RJ Daniels scored 11 apiece. Daniels had a game-high nine points in the first half.

Semar Farris scored 16 points for MACU. Chris Runnels scored 12 points, and Josh Smith and Brock Hunter had 10 apiece.

Wright's basket at 10:25 of the first half rallied Xavier to 16-15, but the Evangels scored the next 11 points, including 3-pointers by Jarius Wilson and Reggie Davis.

Xavier never was closer than seven points in the second half, when Goode made three free throws at 17:05 to make it 42-35. MACU led by double digits for the final 13:05.

The 14 3-pointers matched the most surrendered by an XU team in the last nine seasons. It was the 12th time this season that MACU made 10 or more treys.

Xavier shot 50 percent from the floor, its second-best ever in 20 games at nationals, and 59.3 percent in the second half. MACU shot 46.6 percent overall.

MACU will play fourth-seeded Freed-Hardeman or unseeded Missouri Valley at 8 p.m. Friday in second round. The championship game of the 32-team, five-round event will be Tuesday.

NOTES: It was the final XU game for Coleman and Goode, the team's only seniors. Both were second-team All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference this year . . . Xavier has lost six consecutive first-round games at nationals. The only XU victory at nationals since 1973 was in the 2007 first round . . . Xavier is 4-16 all-time in 16 appearances at nationals . . . This was Xavier's fifth consecutive appearance at nationals, a school record . . . This is the final season of Mid-America Christian head coach Willie Holley, a 1970 graduate of Louisiana-Monroe who is 812-526 in 43 seasons.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information DirectorXULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Albany State interim football coach Dan Land liked what he saw from Rams

ALBANY, Georgia — Albany State football fans got a taste of what they’re going to see this fall from interim head coach Dan Land and the Rams football team Thursday night as they held their annual Blue & Gold Scrimmage game at the Coliseum.

#It was the Gold Crush offense that was able to come back in the second half and defeat the Dirty Blue defense 34-31.

#The Rams are in the process of filling a void left by former quarterback Frank Rivers, who was able to lead the team to the SIAC championship game during his team his two seasons. They have three prospects to replace him, two of which played in the scrimmage — former Monroe standout Charles Stafford and Caleb Edmond, who backed Rivers up last season.

#In his first pass during the seven-on-seven warmup, Stafford completed a bomb for about 15 yards. In the second quarter, Edmond got tangled up with a few defensive linemen, appeared to be going down but at the last second completed a shovel pass and turned what would’ve been a sack into a 20-plus yard gain. Edmond also completed a beautiful 39-yard touchdown pass in the third and finished with no interceptions. Stafford had two in the contest.

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COMING FULL CIRCLE: Savannah State women's basketball Cedric Baker gets a homecoming in South Carolina

COURTESY SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
HEAD COACH CEDRIC BAKER

COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- Savannah State coach Cedric Baker is about as comfortable as a man can be expected to be, considering the circumstances.

Comfortable, considering he will be taking his women’s basketball team against the third-ranked squad in the country, an opponent that defeated his squad by 62 points already this season.

Baker sees today’s date against top-seeded South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a homecoming. He coached at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., and coached and played at his alma mater, Voorhees College, in Denmark, S.C., about 50 miles away.

The 12th-year SSU coach hopes to see friends and former players at USC’s Colonial Life Arena for the 5 p.m. tipoff.

“There’s going to be great karma in South Carolina,” Baker said. “It’s great going home and gives me a chance to reflect on those who have supported me along the journey.

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Southern hopes ban ends in fall

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The end date for Southern’s NCAA postseason ban is still unknown, but Jaguars Athletic Director William Broussard said Monday that he hopes it will come before the end of the current probationary period.

In January, the NCAA extended the Southern postseason ban through Nov. 1, but said it could be lifted earlier if the subcommittee evaluating the Jaguars’ Academic Progress Rates case is satisfied that the university has submitted the proper data.

The NCAA instituted a postseason ban on all Southern athletic programs in November, 2013 because the university submitted “unusable data” in its documentation of student-athletes’ APR.

During the past 15 months, the Jaguars have responded to numerous NCAA requests for additional information and instituted new campus-wide protocals for compiling such data. But so far the university has been unable to satisfy the NCAA.

“I don’t think people understand just how much we have to do,” Broussard said as he spoke to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday.

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Arizona Shoots Past Texas Southern

• Photos: Arizona has no problem with 15th-seeded Texas Southern

PORTLAND, Oregon -- The weight of national championship aspirations did not slow second-seeded Arizona on Thursday, as the Wildcats breezed to a 93-72 victory over No. 15 Texas Southern.

The Wildcats (32-3) zipped to a 15-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes, snuffing any possible drama and turning the game into a bench-emptying exhibition of Arizona’s depth. By halftime, it was 54-33, and Arizona had made 20 of 29 field-goal attempts (69 percent) and all 12 of its free throws. The Wildcats shot 60 percent for the game.

Still, Arizona prides itself as a top defensive team, and Coach Sean Miller, happy with the result, was not satisfied with the method, which allowed Texas Southern’s guard-heavy lineup to shoot 47 percent from the field.

“I know we won by a big margin,” Miller said. “But we have high aspirations, and in this tournament, you don’t get a second chance.”

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Morgan State stabbing suspect claims self-defense, gets bail

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- The Morgan State University student charged with critically wounding another student during a fight could be released on bail, after his attorney argued that he has a "significant" self-defense claim.

District Court Judge Nathan Braverman set a $500,000 bail on Thursday morning for Carlos Mars, a 19-year-old Morgan student who is facing attempted first-degree murder and other charges for his role in a campus fight Tuesday afternoon.

Police initially said three people were stabbed, and university officials identified them as university football players. Officials later said two were stabbed and one was hurt by other means. Officials also said that the most seriously injured student was a former player who is not on the team this year, and the other stabbing victim was a student who is trying out for the team this spring. Cosca said others were hurt who are not known to police.

A District Court commissioner had initially ordered Mars held without bail.

Rebecca Cosca, a Silver Spring-based attorney, told Braverman said Mars was part of a "big brawl" involving several people. "This was a situation where he was trying to protect himself and his friends," she said.

Mars cooperated with police, telling his version of the events. Cosca said at least one of Mars' friends, who attended the court hearing, had also been cut during the fracas, but not by Mars.

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Hampton University Pirates: ‘Little Buck’ ready for the big stage

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky  -- Ed Joyner Jr., the head coach at Hampton, can usually tell right away if somebody knows him or his family.

“If somebody calls me ‘Little Buck,’ then they know me,” Joyner said by telephone on Wednesday from Louisville, where his 16th-seeded Pirates will play top-seeded and undefeated Kentucky tonight in the NCAA Tournament.

Joyner, a Winston-Salem native, is known as Little Buck by family members and around the CIAA and MEAC. That’s because he comes from the Joyner family coaching tree that was started by his father, Ed “Buck” Joyner, and uncle, Steve Joyner Sr.

Buck Joyner is an assistant at Livingstone, the two-time defending CIAA champions, and Steve — Buck’s brother — is the head coach at Johnson C. Smith; Steve needs two wins next season to reach 500 for his career.

As Little Buck navigates his second time on the big stage, he has already made a name for himself — thanks to a comment he made about playing Kentucky. Before the Pirates (17-17) played Manhattan in the play-in game on Tuesday, Joyner joked that he’d have to get Jesus on speed dial if the Pirates were to play Kentucky.



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Stillman axes athletic events

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Stillman College plans to cancel many non-conference athletic events and play only Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests, the school announced on its website Thursday.

“Like most private institutions around the country, Stillman Athletics acknowledges the financial challenges facing the college at this time and has embarked upon cost-saving measures,” a message on the Stillmanathletics.com website said. “These measures included the cancellation of non-conference events and do not jeopardize the postseason eligibility of the Tigers and Lady Tigers.”

Neither Stillman President Peter Millet nor Cassandra Moorer, the school's interim athletics director, were available for comment. Moorer was named interim athletics director last August.

Stillman's 2015 football schedule has not been released, but no games are expected to be canceled. .

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Behind Texas Southern, a Lowly Conference Rides High

PORTLAND, Oregon — Among the few constants in college basketball is the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s position at the bottom. The conference, consisting of historically black colleges, is perennially the lowest-rated league in the country. Of the 351 teams ranked in the Basketball Power Index, only one SWAC team is higher than No. 261.

That is Texas Southern, seeded 15th in the West Region and matched against No. 2 Arizona on Thursday. And while it is unlikely that the Tigers (B.P.I.: 210) will become the first SWAC team since 1993 to win a round-of-64 game in the N.C.A.A. tournament, they have the attention of big-name programs.

Coach Mike Davis coached at Indiana for six seasons, leading the Hoosiers to the 2002 championship game. This season, Davis’s third with the Tigers, Texas Southern beat Michigan State and Kansas State on the road, part of an intentionally brutal nonconference schedule intended to make up for the anchor effect of playing in the SWAC.

“My vision for the program is to one day get it to the level of an at-large bid,” Davis said Wednesday.

The nonconference schedule included games at Indiana, Tennessee, Southern Methodist, Baylor, Florida, Gonzaga and Auburn. That helps the strength-of-schedule component of the rankings, of course. But the goal is winning.

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Timing is everything: Senior guard Ezinne Kalu has led Savannah State to the NCAA tournament

COURTESY SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- It was a timely announcement that paid off multiple times for Savannah State.

Ezinne Kalu learned she had the same birthday as former Tigers football star Shannon Sharpe when she came on a recruiting visit.

It was the same day SSU announced it would retire Sharpe’s No. 2 jersey later in the season.

“Coach, you’re going to do the same thing for me?” Kalu asked Tigers women’s coach Cedric Baker.

“You’re coming?” Baker asked.

“Coach, I’m coming,” Kalu said.

Baker remembers the conversation clearly. Mark the date — June 26 — the day the SSU women’s basketball program took a leap toward competitiveness. With Kalu in the lineup, the Tigers are 70-61. But without Kalu during Baker’s 11-year tenure, SSU has gone 56-138.

Before Kalu, the Tigers experienced 11 straight losing seasons. Now with Kalu leading the way, the women’s program finds itself mentioned with the nation’s elite. The Tigers will play top-seeded South Carolina at 5 p.m. on Friday in Columbia in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.

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NCCU raises its Tobacco Road profile

"I hope we proved to America that we’re not an HBCU, we’re a Division I basketball team.”

MIAMI, Florida — In its physical form, Tobacco Road is a 100-mile stretch that spans the distance between North Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest.

It’s a familiar landmark for the college basketball community, representing some of the biggest blue bloods of the sport and the incredible level of competition between the programs.

But after another year of North Carolina Central’s unprecedented success under coach LeVelle Moton, there’s another program fighting to erect a permanent mile-marker of its own along the historic trail.

If the program’s first perfect conference record wasn’t enough to earn respect and attention, surely Tuesday night’s performance in a 75-71 loss Miami in the first round of the NIT should certainly start some conversation about the Eagles.



“The truth of the matter is, no one expected them to do what they do or did what they did,” Moton said. “No one expected that team to go 16-0. You’re looking at a team that’s playing without their best post player, without their back up point guard, out with a broken foot.

“We just had to find a way. It’s tough for them to receive the proper respect. There was so much being said about Central not being deserving of an NCAA bid and there were flukes. It’s unfortunate that we can spend five or six months working to establish a body of work and no one cares except for one day in the tournament. Where else do they do that? "

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Hampton not counting on Jesus' help vs. UK

LEXINGTON, Kentucky -- Jesus never called Edward Joyner back, but Hampton University's basketball coach doesn't think it'll take divine intervention to knock off overall No. 1 seed Kentucky in Thursday night's round of 64 NCAA tournament game at the KFC Yum! Center.

Joyner had 297 text messages awaiting him after the Pirates, a No. 16 seed one game below .500, upset Manhattan in a play-in game Tuesday in Dayton. Some texts had to do with what's ahead – a date with 34-0 UK – but the coach's quote on the Wildcats caught on more.

"Hold on, I told y'all I had Jesus on speed dial," Joyner said, pretending to make a phone call. "Hey, Jesus. First of all, you can't play, so I am not worried about you being hot. OK? Fine. They want to know how much of a mountain and what are our odds. Hello? Hello? I guess he'll get back to me."

Joyner said Wednesday inside the Yum! Center that Jesus finally responded, but only via email. Hey, that's progress. And some words from above left him hopeful even as a 31-point underdog.



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Ram Ramblings: Blount could wind up back in the CIAA

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- It’s getting down to the wire as to who the next football coach will be at Johnson C. Smith but Kermit Blount, the all-time leader in wins at WSSU, is still a candidate.

Blount appears to be among the final two for the job along with Adrian Jones, an assistant coach at N.C. Central. As somebody who has covered the CIAA and WSSU for 19 years you hear things - even if you aren’t looking to hear things. I’ve got it on good authority that Blount and Jones are the finalists.

It’s already been decided that J.C. Smith will not have spring football so whoever the new coach is will have his work cut out for them this fall.

I have no idea what might happen as to who J.C. Smith will select but knowing Blount for a long time I can say it wouldn’t be a bad place for him to wind up. I covered Blount for all but three of his 16 seasons at WSSU and if there’s one thing I learned is he is old school when it comes to discipline.

He graduated a lot of players, and didn’t cut corners when it came to running his program.

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Hampton U. women refocused for WNIT opportunity

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- When Hampton University women's basketball coach David Six addressed his players earlier this week in preparation for the Women's NIT, he invoked one of the Pirates' men's players.

Not leading scorer and rebounder Dwight Meikle. Not MEAC tournament MVP Deron Powers or kinetic wing Quinton Chievous. He brought up senior forward Emmanuel Okoroba.

"I thought Emmanuel Okoroba played a great championship game," Six said. "I told them he played like it was his last game, and we have to do the same thing, because it could be our last game."

Indeed, Okoroba was a key contributor in the Pirates' run to the MEAC title. Despite seeing his playing time reduced through the course of the season, he was critical in the semifinals and final. He played double-figure minutes versus both Norfolk State and Delaware State, in Meikle's absence, and totaled 14 points and six rebounds, and provided a defensive presence around the basket.

Six said that he and the players moved on from last week's disappointing MEAC tournament quarterfinal loss to Maryland Eastern Shore. Thursday's NIT game at Drexel (7 p.m.), and the entire tournament, are chances to extend their season.

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Florida A&M Rattlers adjusting to new coaching staff, practice schedule

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Akil Blount has plenty to get used to in his final year with Florida A&M’s football team.

The senior linebacker took the practice field for the first time Wednesday morning almost 12 hours before last year’s afternoon practice time. FAMU’s new coaching regime has brought some changes, and the first is the team’s new 5:30 a.m. practice time.

Blount, along with the rest of the Rattlers’ spring roster, took to the field with enthusiasm, despite the sun not shining until the very end of practice — around 8 a.m.

“I feel like that sets us apart from a lot of other teams in the country,” Blount said. “Not too many other teams are up at 4:30 a.m. That’s what’s going to set us apart.”

First-year head coach Alex Wood said he felt good after watching his team in action.

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UMES Hawks fall in CIT Opening Round at High Point, 70-64

HIGH POINT, North Carolina -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team finished its incredible campaign with a first round loss in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, 70-64 against the High Point Panthers. UMES (18-15, 11-5) ended its season with the loss, but the year culminated in a winning record and a postseason bid for the first time in three decades.

With an invite to the CIT, UMES earned a postseason berth for the first time since the 1980-81 season. Previous Hawks teams had competed in NAIA postseasons with only the 1973-74 team competing in an NCAA postseason in that year's NIT. In search of their first postseason victory in 34 years, UMES traveled to the Tar Heel State to take on the Big South's regular season co-champion.

In the opening minutes, it looked like the Hawks might run the 22-win High Point Panthers out of their own gym. UMES did not allow a point in the first five minutes, leaping out to a 9-0 lead. After a three-pointer by Iman Johnson, his first attempt and make of the season, UMES led 24-9 with eleven minutes to go in the first period. The 15-point lead began to dissipate as the Panthers' offense rounded into form. High Point closed the first half on a 13-2 run to tighten the gap to a one-point Hawks' lead at 32-31.

After halftime, the Hawks finally relinquished the lead with High Point's charge continuing. With 12:46 remaining, John Brown, the Panthers' leading scorer, tied the game at 40 with an emphatic dunk. Devante Wallace followed with a jumper to give High Point its first lead of the night, 42-40 with 12:07 left. Despite the momentum swinging the opposite way, UMES hung tough to keep the game tied at 45 until the under-8 media timeout. From there, High Point rattled off a crucial 11-1 run to open up a double-digit lead. UMES missed free throws down the stretch, an Achilles' heel at times throughout the season. Battling to the final whistle, the Hawks pulled with two possessions in the final 30 seconds, but it wasn't enough.

Both Mike Myers and Devin Martin finished with 13 points to lead UMES. Ishaq Pitt closed his Hawks' career with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Brown for High Point, a First Team All-Big South selection each of the last three years, racked up 23 points including 11-of-12 free throws. Wallace made 3-of-5 three-pointers on his way to a 19-point performance.

While the teams' overall shooting percentages roughly matched up, the difference came at the foul line. High Point made 26-of-32 foul shots (81.3%), including the impressive mark from Brown. UMES, meanwhile, made just 8-of-17 (47.1%) from the charity stripe. The Hawks also committed 18 turnovers compared to just a dozen for High Point. While UMES held the rebounding advantage, it was not enough to overcome the deficits in other facets of the game.

The Hawks conclude their year with an 18-15 overall record, the most wins by a UMES men's basketball team in 41 years. Though a first round exit in the CIT, the Hawks still managed to earn a postseason berth for the first time since 1981. The winning mark is the first above .500 record for a UMES team since the 1993-94 season, while the third-place finish in the MEAC is the best since that same year. The incredible turnaround year also saw widespread recognition of the accomplishments in Princess Anne with Bobby Collins winning MEAC Coach of the Year, as well as freshman Ryan Andino winning MEAC Rookie of the Year. Myers remains in the running for National Mid-Major Player of the Year for both CollegeInsider.com and CollegeCourtReport.com.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE SPORTS INFORMATION

DSU falls to Radford in CBI opener

DOVER, Delaware -- Wednesday night Delaware State made history by hosting the program's first postseason game.

Unfortunately, it was a performance the Hornets would love to forget. Radford defeated the DSU 78-57 in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational at Memorial Hall.

The Hornets were without three starters as leading scorer Amere May was dinged up and wearing street clothes. Kendal Williams was in a walking boot, and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Defensive Player of the Year Kendall Gray dressed, but did not play due to an illness.

"I hate that we came to postseason play bitten by the injury bug, but those are things you have to deal with," said DSU coach Keith Walker. "You have to persevere and continue to move on."

"Kendal Williams had an ankle injury during the last game of the (MEAC) tournament. Amere May tore his calf muscle, and Kendall Gray was sick."

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Hampton basketball: A collect call to Jesus before playing Kentucky

DAYTON, Ohio -- Ed Joyner had Jesus on speed dial after Hampton knocked off Manhattan in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Tuesday night. The messiah answered, but once the Pirates’ head coach asked about his team’s chances of knocking off their next opponent, undefeated Kentucky, Jesus hung up on him.

At least, that’s the story Joyner told in the post game press conference.

It comes with Hampton basketball’s new standing in the hoops world: Straight underdog status, the term guard Reggie Johnson used to describe his team’s upcoming game against Kentucky.

After defeating Manhattan 74-64, the Pirates will now try and pull off one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history and hand the No. 1 seed Wildcats their first loss of the season.



“We got nothing to lose,” Joyner said. “We’re gonna’ go out and play, try to execute our game plan and try to win the game.”

Against the offensive juggernaut that head coach John Calipari has assembled down in Lexington, Joyner may need Jesus on his side to simply have a prayer against the Wildcats.

Led by future lottery picks Will Cauley-Stein (7’) and Karl Anthony-Town (6’11”), the Wildcats went 34-0 in the regular season, winning all 18 games in conference play before taking home the conference tournament title.

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