Men's Basketball | March 13, 2019
Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - Bethune-Cookman men's basketball faces Howard University in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament on Thursday, Mar. 14, at 8 p.m. The Wildcats are the 5 seed and Howard is the 4 seed as both teams earned a first round bye. The action can be heard on WELE 1380 The Cat with
Nolan Alexander on the call and seen on
FloHoops.
Tournament Home
MEAC Tournament homepage
Bracket
Starting Five
1 BCU finished with a 10-4 home record this season that matches last year's win total. The 20 wins represent the highest two-year total since 2009-11, when the Wildcats won 11 home contests each year. Those years, however, the Wildcats could play up to four non-Division 1 foes
2 Thursday's opponent, Howard, showcases the MEAC Player of the Year, R.J. Cole. When he faces off against the Defensive Player of the Year, Cletrell Pope, it will be the first time this decade and possibly ever the PoY meets the DPoY in MEAC postseason. In 2016, BCU's LaRon Smith won the DPoY and HU's James Daniel III won the PoY
3 Pope paces the MEAC and leads the nation with an average of 4.23 offensive rebounds. He is third nationally with his 12.1 rebounding average, and fourth with 363 total boards. The redshirt-junior's 21 double-doubles ranks second in the NCAA, and his 7.87 defensive rebound average is good for 12th. Pope is fourth in the MEAC in total blocks (38) and in average (1.27). His 21 double-doubles passed MEAC Hall-of-Famer Kyle O'Quinn's 20 from 2012
4 Head Coach Ryan Ridder owns 32 wins through his first two seasons leading the Wildcats. That is tied for first in BCU history for a Head Coach's first two seasons, along with his predecessor, Gravelle Craig. Ridder's 19 MEAC wins is best in the first two-year span
5 The 'Cats are top 50 nationally in the following CATegories:
#7️Total Rebounds per game #12 offensive rebounds avg.
#14 3FG% Defense #40 Turnovers Forced per game
#51 FG% Defense
Last Time vs. Howard 2/11/19
Cletrell Pope posted his 17th double-double with 19 points, and teammate Mark Gordon dropped 19 off the bench, but Bethune-Cookman fell to visiting Howard 79-73, Monday night at Historic Moore Gym.
BCU (11-14, 6-5) took an early 14-point lead with 7:48 in the first half on Gordon's first of five three-pointers, but HU (12-13, 6-4) slowly mounted a comeback on the heels of R.J. Cole's 32-point performance.
Coming Soon
The victor plays Friday at 6 p.m. against either top-seeded Norfolk State or ninth-seeded South Carolina State.
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