Howard held UMBC to the top four for its first NCAA Tournament win

DAYTON, Ohio — When Kenny Blakeney arrived at Howard, he took over a program that had lived in the lower echelons of Division I for decades.

“Howard, for the last 20 years, was the 354th ranked team in the country,” Blakeney said. “For me, it was great, because there was nothing to do but go ahead and program it better.”

Despite being limited to just four wins in his first season and second campaign to just five games due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Blakeney began to get the better of Howard. A winning season followed. Then back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

But Howard has yet to win a game in March Madness. The Bison had “a box to check,” Blakeney stressed to his team before Tuesday’s first four games against UMBC at UD Arena.

Despite a late scare, No. 16 seed Howard finished the night with a checkmark next to his name, outlasting No. 16 UMBC 86-83. The Bison now head to Buffalo, New York, where they will face No. 1 seed Michigan on Thursday in a first-round Midwest Region matchup.

“Being on this stage and being able to check this box, it’s the only game going on right now, and the whole college basketball world, I’m sure, was locked in,” Blakeney said. “So, what a wonderful achievement.”

Howard saw an 11-point lead dwindle with less than two minutes to play, but Bryce Harris’ turnaround jumper pushed the Bison’s advantage to four with 13 seconds left before the shot clock expired. UMBC had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but DJ Armstrong Jr.’s 3-point attempt missed.

“We’ve been in games like this before, we practice for this situation,” said Ose Okozie, who led Howard with a career-high 23 points and played most of the final 12:33 with four fouls. “We weren’t worried or anything like that. Because there’s no time for fear on this big stage. There’s no time for worry.

“You have to believe in your work.”

Too overwhelmed to address the team afterward, Blakeney turned things over to Harris, the fifth-year leader who has watched Howard climb each step toward respectability. Harris, who posted 19 points and 14 rebounds against UMBC, reminded the team of the previous season, when Howard fell to 12-20 and both he and Okoji were sidelined with injuries. Okojie suffered a blow against UMBC, all opponents.

“It’s a full-circle moment,” Harris said, “how you win your first NCAA Tournament game against the team you got hurt against.”

A 49-41 halftime lead behind Howard Okojie and others, and it led by as many as 14 in the second half. But a UMBC team making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since its historic takedown of Virginia in 2018 — the Retrievers were the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 — won’t go away.

“They’re such a talented group,” Harris said.

Blakeney grew up near Howard in Washington, DC, but his basketball career, unlike the program he would eventually coach, was associated with success. He won Gatorade Player of the Year at Maryland, playing for coach Morgan Wooten at DeMatha Catholic High School. Blakeney then went to Duke and was part of its national championship teams in 1991 and 1992 before leading the squad as a senior.

Blakeney takes over from Howard by recognizing that how to build a winning culture, there’s only one to follow. He learned through lean years then lifted the program to the Big Dance. But with a First Four appearance against Wagner two years ago, Blakeney didn’t downplay what Tuesday’s win meant.

“I went to Duke to win championships, and I want our young guys to come to Howard to win championships, because I’m 54 years old from 1991 and 1992 and the opportunities are still there,” he said. “If you have a chance to win a championship … there won’t be an alum in the country that won’t call you.”

Bison may have to stop making phone calls as they move forward. As they left the court, many fans begged them to take Michigan down.

“It’s kind of surreal,” said Okozie, who will next play near his hometown of Brampton, Ontario. “You watch this tournament as a kid, and winning a game is crazy.”