By Roscoe Nance
Teams in the MEAC basketball tournament, which starts Monday in Winston-Salem, N.C., might want to keep in mind what cowboys in the old West used to say.
"There ain't a horse that can't be rode, and there ain't a man that can't be throwed.''
In basketball jargon, that means any team can be beaten - even the Morgan State men and the North Carolina A&T women, the defending champions and the No. 1 seeds for the third consecutive year.
The numbers say denying either another tournament title, and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, is a Herculean task. Over the past three regular seasons, the Lady Aggies are 44-4 in conference play and Morgan State is 42-6.
"They're the teams to beat and they have the bulls eye on their back,'' ESPN College Basketball play-by-play announcer Charlie Neal says, adding that its not unthinkable that either or both could be upset. "Morgan State has had some consistency problems. A&T can be beat if they don't come with their A game. It's not as daunting as it appears. But teams must play well to beat them.''
That sounds simple enough in theory, but it's something MEAC teams have not done consistently.
South Carolina State handed Morgan State its only conference loss, 71-68 in Baltimore on Feb. 15, and the Bulldogs led by 11 points at the half before losing 72-67 in Orangeburg, S.C., on Jan. 16.
"You've got to have an extremely focused mindset,'' Bulldogs coach Tim Carter says. "Whatever the game plan is, it has to work to perfection because they have so many weapons. You can't just stop one thing. They can make perimeter jumpers and they have Kevin Thompson inside. If you can do that, you have a chance; if you can't it's going to be a long night.''
Morgan State leads the conference in scoring at 77.0 points a game. Senior guard Reggie Holmes is the individual leader at 22.0; Thompson, a 6-9 sophomore forward, leads the conference in rebounding 11.7 a game, and he averages 12.6 points a game, DeWayne Jackson, a 6-8 freshman forward, is top three-point shooter in the conference at 45.8% (49-for-107). Jackson averages 10.3 points a game.
"You got to be able to defend a lot of things,'' ESPN College Basketball Analyst Stan Lewter says. "They have probably the best balance in the conference. To beat them you have to confuse them. Your bigs have to beat their bigs down floor. You have to keep Holmes in front of you and allow him just one shot, and that has to be a contested shot.''
Morgan State is 24-9 overall and has won 20 or more games three consecutive seasons.
"We try to take one game at a time and don't look ahead,'' Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman says. "I don't view us as dominant. This year's team is different from last year; it has its own identity. It's a new day, a new situation. The tournament is a different set of challenges than the regular season. The challenge is to be ready to play regardless of who it is.''
North Carolina A&T's only conference losses were to Hampton, 90-80 on Feb. 15, and Morgan State, 73-69 on March 1. Hampton shot 52.6% from field, including 58.8% (11-for-17) from three-point range. Morgan State scored 34 points off turnovers by the Lady Aggies and outscored them 21-26 on points in the paint.
"I don't know if anybody can beat the in the tournament,'' Hampton interim coach David Six says. "They have experience. Obviously they have talent. We played well. Maybe we caught them on right night. I'm s Coach (Patricia) Bibbs will make adjustment. They're not two-time defending (regular season) champs for no reason. They're a solid club all around. They've had a tremendous year.''
The Lady Aggies, 21-9 overall, are the top scoring team in the MEAC, averaging 71.6 points a game. Four players average between 17.0 and 9.8 points, which makes it difficult for opponents to lock in on any one individual.
However, the Lady Aggies don't have a go-to player who they count on when they really need a basket; that could be a problem for them if they're involved a game that goes down to the wire. The Lady Aggies' defensive shortcomings could also hurt them. They are 10th out of 11 teams in field goal percentage defense (41.9%).
"We got beat twice in the regular season,'' Bibbs says. ". We've got to want it, bring energy. We know we're not invincible.''
Even though the Lady Aggies are the defending tournament champions, they have just four seniors on their roster. Guard Ta'Wuana Cook and forward Lamona Smalley are the only senior starters on squad that is dominated by freshmen and sophomores.
"I have to rely on the people I have who have experience to guide the younger players,'' Bibbs. "Records go out the window. Each team in the tournament knows that. Coaches tell their players this is as another season and they are in as good position as anyone to win. I have to let my kids know even that even though we won last year, it's not promised.''