The NCAA Tournament bids are out and Howard University is headed to the First Four to take on Wagner.
The two teams will face off in Dayton, OH at the First Four. The winner will get to play no. 1 seed North Carolina in Charlotte.
Howard comes into the NCAA Tournament 18-16 overall after winning three games in a row to claim the MEAC Tournament title in Norfolk, VA on Saturday. This is the second consecutive appearance in a row for HU in the NCAA Tournament. Last year the team broke a 31-year NCAA drought, picking up a no. 16 seed and drawing defending champion Kansas. HU kept it close before Kansas pulled away.
This year’s Howard squad looks much different. It lost three of its top four scorers from last year to the transfer portal. One of its top returners, sophomore forward Shy Odom, has missed a significant portion of the season with injuries. Head coach Kenneth Blakeney has had to adjust his lineups all season to deal with the attrition. Here are some players to keep an eye on in round one of the NCAA Tournament for Howard.
Bryce Harris
A role player on last year’s squad, Harris leads the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game and shoots a super-efficient 55.3 percent from the field. Though he’s listed at 6’4 he spends much of his time in the front-court, as he averages 7.6 rebounds per game for Howard. He’s had 20 points or better 11 times this season.
Seth Towns
Towns is one of the new additions at Howard, but he’s far from a newbie to college basketball. The former Harvard and Ohio State player is using his eighth year of NCAA eligibility at Howard, and while that is an amazing story, he’s more than just a feel-good story. The former Ivy League Player of the Year is averaging 14.2 points per game for Howard to go along with 6.6 rebounds per game. At the MEAC Tournament he guarded everything from point guard to centers and is a capable 3-point shooter as well.
Marcus Dockery
Dockery started his college career at Maryland before coming to Howard prior to the 2022-2023 season. He was a solid contributor on last season’s team, averaging just under 10 points per game and making big plays to help HU win the MEAC title. This season he’s been more of a featured scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game. He is a major threat from 3-point range, shooting better than 41 percent from long-range.
This will be Howard’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is currently 0-3.
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