Howard holds off UMBC in First Four for first NCAA tournament win

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DAYTON, Ohio -- When Kenny Blakeney arrived at Howard, he took over a program that had lived in the lower rung of Division I for decades.

"Howard was, like, for the last 20 years, the 354th-ranked team in the country," Blakeney said. "For me, that was great, because there was nothing else to do but go forward and make this a better program."

Despite only four wins in his first season and a second campaign limited to just five games by the COVID-19 pandemic, Blakeney started making Howard better. A winning season followed. Then back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

But Howard had still not won a game in…