DAYTON, Ohio — Hampton University defeated Manhattan 74 – 64 Tuesday night to advance in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. With the win, the #16-seed Hampton Pirates will next face the #1 seed and undefeated Kentucky Wildcats. A #16 seeded team has never beaten a #1 seed in tournament history.
After the game, Hampton University coach Edward Joyner was asked how much of a mountain his team would have to climb in order to pull the upset.
“Hold on, I told y’all I had Jesus on speed dial,” Joyner laughed while picking up his cell phone and pretending to make a call. “Hey Jesus. First of all, you can’t play, so I am not worried about you being hot. Okay? Fine. They want to know how much of a mountain and what are our odds. Hello? Hello? I guess he’ll get back to me.”
Kentucky is the odds-on favorite to win the tournament, so Coach Joyner remained realistic.
“It’s a heck of a mountain and we know that. We are going to go compete and let the chips fall where they may. They’re a great team and we know that.”
The Kentucky-Hampton game is expected to tip-off around 9:40 p.m. Thursday in a game that will be broadcast on CBS.
