Hampton, Ole Miss Claim NCAA Tourney Openers

DAYTON, Ohio -- Hampton coach Edward Joyner Jr. had joked he'd need a lot of help if his team advanced to play No. 1 Kentucky.

"Jesus on speed dial," he kidded.

So after Hampton extended its unlikely run, beating Manhattan 74-64 Tuesday night in the First Four to dial up a date with the mighty Wildcats, Joyner grabbed a cell phone and pretended to make a really, really long-distance call.

"Hello? Hello?" he said at a postgame news conference.

Then he put down the phone, laughed, and said, "I guess he'll get back to me."

Reginald Johnson scored 15 points and made two critical defensive plays down the stretch and Quinton Chievous added 15 points and 13 rebounds before leaving with a sprained ankle in the final minutes.

Ole Miss 94, BYU 90

Ole Miss pulled off the NCAA tournament's first big comeback. Against the team that's known for the biggest one of all, no less. Stefan Moody scored 26 points and led Mississippi's comeback from a 17-point halftime deficit to a 94-90 victory over BYU on Tuesday night in the First Four.

The Rebels (21-12) trailed until Moody led a 15-2 run midway through the second half. He hit a late 3-pointer that helped finish it off.

"Welcome to March Madness!" Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said.

It was some way to get it going. Ole Miss goes to Jacksonville, Florida, to play sixth-seeded Xavier on Thursday afternoon in the East Region, a team that Kennedy knows well from his days as a coach at Cincinnati.

NCAA Schedule

First Round

Wednesday, March 18

UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio)

16 North Florida Ospreys vs. 16 Robert Morris Colonials

11 Boise State Broncos vs. 11 Dayton Flyers

EIU Wins Opener In CIT

ROCHESTER, Mich. -- Eastern Illinois won its first postseason game as an NCAA Division I school on Tuesday night with 97-91 win at Oakland in the opening round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).  EIU held on for the win after leading by as many as 17 points late in the second half.

EIU improved to 18-14 and will find out its second round CIT opponent later in the week.  Oakland finished the season at 16-17 as EIU snapped an 11-game home winning streak by the Golden Grizzlies in the O’rena.

Oakland and Eastern Illinois traded baskets early with Dante Williams providing offense for Oakland while the Panthers had a balanced offensive attack.