Howard picked up its first ever March Madness win and Texas snatched a dramatic last-second victory as the highly-anticipated college basketball tournament got underway on Tuesday night.
Bryce Harris had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and sank a turnaround jumper with 13 seconds remaining to deliver Howard’s first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, 86-83 over UMBC in the First Four.
Ose Okojie also scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bison (24-10), who entered with an 0-4 record in March Madness and had to hold off a late rally by the Retrievers (24-9).
As Howard enjoyed a historic evening, Tramon Mark finished with a team-high 17 points and hit the game-winning shot with one second left as Texas survived NC State in their own First Four encounter.
The Longhorns (19-14) blew a late lead and allowed the Wolfpack (20-14) to tie the game at 66 with 18 seconds left, only for Mark to come up clutch right at the death.
Chendall Weaver was also on hand with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two steals off the bench, while Dailyn Swain had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Texas advanced to the Round of 64.
Howard picked up its first ever March Madness win on the opening night of the tournament
Texas also snatched a last-second victory over NC State on a dramatic start to the First Four
They will play No. 6 BYU in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, with Howard also set for a showdown that evening with No. 1 Michigan, which is expected to contend for the title.
‘We’ve done a lot of things in our program, but let’s check off the box of winning an NCAA game today,’ Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney said after their win over UMBC.
DJ Armstrong Jr.’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds left got the Retrievers within 83-81. After Harris’ jumper as the shot clock expired gave Howard a four-point lead, Jah’Likah King made a layup to make it 85-83.
Isaiah Brown made one of two free throws and Armstrong couldn’t convert a 3 at the buzzer, sealing a trip to Buffalo, New York, for the Bison, who enter the Midwest Region bracket as the No. 16 seed.
‘Run, clock, run,’ Blakeney said of his thoughts in the final moments. ‘We went from, I want to say, a three-possession game to a two-possession game to a one-possession game.’
The coach also led Howard, one of the country’s premier historically Black universities, to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023 and ’24.
UMBC was seeking its first March Madness win since it shocked top overall seed Virginia in 2018, becoming the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1.
Bryce Harris had 19 points and 14 rebounds as he delivered Howard’s historic first win late on
Tramon Mark (right) finished with a team-high 17 points after hitting the game-winner for Texas
The Retrievers lost in the second round that year and this was the first NCAA Tournament appearance since for the suburban Baltimore school, located 31 miles north of the Howard campus in Washington.
King led UMBC with 19 points, Armstrong had 17 and Caden Diggs scored 15.
Cedric Taylor III scored 16 points for Howard, going 9 of 10 at the free-throw line before fouling out in the final minute.
The Bison led for all but the first 1:21 and took a 13-point lead in the first half. Okojie scored 16 points before halftime, helping the Bison to a 49-41 advantage at the break.
‘I said, “Guys, this is the worst we’ve played all year,” for whatever the reason,’ UMBC coach Jim Ferry said of his halftime message.
