Former Maryland commit Trayvon Reed will continue on to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64, helping push Texas Southern past North Carolina Central in Wednesday’s opening First Four game, 64-46.
The Tigers picked up their first-ever tournament win, as Reed resumed his role as controller of the paint and was the team’s third-leading scorer on the night. He finished with 10 points to go with eight rebounds and six (!!!) blocks, including this emphatic swat.
One of the #BlackBallSports Players to Watch, Trayvon Reed, making his presence felt early for Texas Southern. pic.twitter.com/hIJfrmGKM4
— BlackBall (@BlackBallSports) March 14, 2018
The 7’2 former four-star recruit has bounced around a little since originally committing to the Terps. After being denied the opportunity to enroll at Maryland due to a run-in with police, he enrolled at Auburn. He played little in 2014-15 before sitting out the next season, while sticking it out with the Tigers.
He then transferred to Texas Southern, where he has enjoyed a successful redshirt junior season. He helped the Tigers push through an 0-13 start to the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament crown with averages of 9.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and a conference-high 2.9 blocks in 27.7 minutes a night.
For the first time EVER.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 15, 2018
Texas Southern wins its first NCAA Tourney game, going 0-7 prior to tonight. pic.twitter.com/HqoFg1uaTz
Next up for the Texas Southern is a first round matchup with No. 1-seed Xavier on Friday at 7:20 p.m. ET.
In other news
Don’t forget to join our bracket challenge. Brackets finalize when the first round tips off at noon. I finalized my picks last night, so get yours in.
Speaking of former Terps, Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone both had hot performances in the G-League recently.
While the men are out, women’s basketball will start to work its way through the NCAA Tournament this weekend, and for the first time in years will start on the road. This week’s podcast looks at Brenda Frese’s squad will fare in Raleigh.
Two of our former fearless leaders, Alex Kirshner and Matt Ellentuck, discussed how much of a hit Virginia takes with De’Andre Hunter out for the tournament and whether Tony Bennett’s squad is completely sunk without him.
Mark Turgeon has been on an offering spree, giving out offers to a Canadian guard in the top 40 for 2019, as well as two prospects from New York, from InsideMDSports.