THE GAME
The top-seeded Eagles of North Carolina Central University begin their journey in the 2014 MEAC Basketball Tournament as the maroon and gray face the eighth-seeded Bison of Howard University in quarterfinal round action inside the Norfolk Scope Arena.  NCCU beat Howard 79-65 on the road on Feb. 1.

THE SERIES
Howard and NCCU have met 64 previous times since their first meeting which took place on Feb. 2, 1937 with the Eagles owning a 38-26 advantage.  Since moving to the NCAA Division I level, the maroon and gray are 3-0 against the Bison, including a 4-0 mark inside historic Burr Gymnasium.  Here's how NCCU has fared against HU in the last four meetings.  

2/1/14- at Howard- 79-65 W
1/21/13- vs. Howard- 71-36 W
1/16/12- at Howard- 69-53 W
2/5/11- at Howard- 79-70 W

NCCU SPORTS NETWORK
The NCCU Sports Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the 65th meeting between NCCU and Howard beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the Denny's of Durham Pregame Show as play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network Chris Hooks will be joined alongside Ronnie Enoch courtside from the Norfolk Scope Arena.  Fans can interact with the broadcast by following @NCCUAthletics on Twitter using the hashtag #NCCUMBB.  Listeners can also send an e-mail to whooks@nccu.edu or nccusn@nccu.edu. 

SCOUTING REPORT:  #8 SEED- HOWARD
-The eighth-seeded Bison of Howard University advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinal round matchup of the 2014 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament on-the-heels of a 53-47 win over the ninth-seeded Aggies of North Carolina A&T on Tuesday afternoon inside the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.  The MEAC's Rookie of the Year, James Daniels, was held to nine points, but hit hit two big threes late to push HU over the edge in the six-point win.  6-7 freshman Solomon Mangham scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds, along with Prince Okoroh's 13 points and four rebounds.  HU found a way to win despite shooting 12-for-48 (25.0 percent) from-the-field as the Bison shot 24-for-33 from the foul line in a game that had a combined 60 free throws attempted.  A&T's Lamont Middleton led all scorers with 19 points despite a 3-for-15 effort from the field, he finished 11-for-16 from the charity stripe.

-Howard and NCCU have met 64 previous times since their first meeting which took place on Feb. 2, 1937 with the Eagles owning a 38-26 advantage.  Since moving to the NCAA Division I level, the maroon and gray are 3-0 against the Bison, including a 4-0 mark inside historic Burr Gymnasium.  Here's how NCCU has fared against HU in the last four meetings.  

2/1/14    at Howard    79-65 W
1/21/13     vs. Howard.    71-36 W
1/16/12    at Howard    69-53 W
2/5/11    at Howard    79-70 W

-HU is led by fourth year head coach Kevin Nickelberry who has built the Bison basketball program up from the bottom of the league putting together a 36-88 mark during his time in our nation's capital.  In 10 seasons, Nickelbarry is 123-169 that includes a 17-33 record in league play and has spent time as a head coach at Hampton and Columbia Union College, while working as an assistant coach at Clemson, Charlotte, Monmouth, Howard, and Columbia Union College.

-During the regular season, Howard finished 5-11 in conference action, tied with four other teams in the league with that record.  The Bison were given the eighth seed based on their record against those teams.  As a team, HU was No. 12 in the MEAC in scoring offense (61.7 points per game), tied for fifth in scoring defense (70.4 points per game), eighth in free throw percentage (68.2 percent), 13th in the MEAC in field goal percentage (38.2 percent), fourth in field goal percentage defense (42.5 percent), third in three-point percentage (34.2 percent), and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (32.8 percent).

-Feb. 1, 2014- NCCU-79, Howard-65
-NCCU ran away with a 14-point victory over the host Bison of Howard University inside Burr Gymnasium as the Eagles led by as much as 27 at 69-47 with 9:45 to go.  Howard outscored the Eagles 23-10 down-the-stretch to make the margin of victory closer than it was as four student-athletes scored in double figures for the Eagles.  Jeremy Ingram finished with 16 points, Reggie Groves (4-fo7 from three-point range) added 15 points, while Jordan Parks scored 14 points, and Alfonzo Houston contributed 11 points in the win.  Howard's James Daniel was held to 13 points in the loss as he finished 3-for-13 from-the-field, including a 2-for-8 effort from deep.

-Howard is led by Daniels who ended the regular season as the MEAC's leading scorer at 21 .2 points a game, shooting 40.2 percent from three-point range (90-for-224) which was third best in the MEAC during the regular season.  Junior forward Prince Okoroh is another solid piece to Nickelberry's puzzle finishing the regular season 16th in the MEAC averaging 5.5 rebounds a game, fifth in the league in steals (1.6 thefts per game), and 13th in defensive rebounds ripping down 3.8 per game.  Okoroh is also second on the team averaging 14.1 points a game.

NCCU VS. MEAC    
Throughout NCCU's illustrious basketball history, the Eagles have taken on every team in the conference that it helped start back in 1970.  NCCU is 299-264 against MEAC opponents all-time.

Bethune-Cookman- 6-4
Coppin State- 6-3
Delaware State- 18-13
Florida A&M- 9-2
Hampton- 45-31
Howard- 38-26
Md. Eastern Shore- 19-16
Morgan State- 46-40
Norfolk State- 9-27
North Carolina A&T- 69-75
Savannah State- 8-8
SC State- 26-19