Kentucky to Open NCAA Tournament Against Hampton After Pirates Take Down Manhattan
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You know all those sexy Steve Masiello vs. Kentucky storylines we in the media dreamed up for this week?
Yeah, go ahead and forget about those.
Hampton put a stop to that enticing theme by taking down Masiello and Manhattan, 74-64, in the first NCAA Tournament play-in game Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.
The No. 16 Pirates (17-17), who entered the Big Dance with a losing record after winning the MEAC Tournament title, gets overall No. 1 seed Kentucky on Thursday in a Midwest Region game in Louisville. The Wildcats are 34-0 and chasing a perfect 40-0 season. A No. 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed.
“Just an off night for us,” Masiello said. “I thought we came out. I thought we let our offense dictate our defense a little bit. We didn’t really play typical Manhattan basketball, I thought. But give Hampton the credit for that. But I couldn’t be more proud of a group of seniors who, if you would have told me four years ago they would bring us to three MAAC championships, back-to-back NCAA appearances off a team that was 6-25, I would have signed up for and taken it in a minute. They’ve totally changed our culture and put Manhattan back on the map where it belongs as one of the better mid- major programs. And that’s a credit to these players, the seniors and what they’ve done. I’m extremely proud of that. It was a terrific year for us. We came up a little short on Dayton and now we’ve got to go back and build on it.”
Guard Quinton Chievous went for 15 points and 13 rebounds but left the game after rolling his ankle with less than three minutes left and had to be helped off the court. Guard Reginald Johnson added 15 points for Hampton and guard Brian Darden hit two clutch foul shots with under a minute to go and added 11 points.