DAYTON, Ohio — Morehead State didn't need a Chief on the boards to get its first NCAA victory in a 25 years.

Center Kenneth Faried got the better of his bigger and more syllabic counterpart last night, and the Eagles never trailed during a 58-43 victory over Alabama State that opened the NCAA tournament and ended a quarter-century of futility for Morehead State.

"For every fan out there, this is for you," said Faried, who had 14 points and 21 rebounds. "Even for those in the last 25 years when we haven't made it, this one is for them."

Morehead (20-15) played its way into a first-round rematch on Friday with top-seeded Louisville, another Kentucky team that it knows well — maybe a little too well for a good night's sleep the next few days.

Alabama State (22-10) hoped to set the tone defensively behind shot blocker Grlenntys Chief Kickingstallionsims Jr., a 7-foot-1 center whose reach is as long as his name. He swatted away three shots, but wasn't much help where he was needed most — on the boards.

Andrew Hayles scored 14 points for Alabama State, which shot only 31 percent in addition to getting outrebounded, 50-27.

"They crashed the boards hard," guard Brandon Brooks said. "We just didn't play our game tonight. We came out timid. We should have come out like we wanted to win this game, and we didn't. The better team won."

Kickingstallionsims (it stumbles off announcers' tongues as KIK'-een-stal'-yun-sy-ems) was the SWAC's defensive player of the year. He showed off his reach by swatting away the game's first shot, but made little impact the rest of the way. He had only two rebounds and was 0-for-2 from the field.

Instead, with Faried (pronounced fuh-REED) leading the way, Morehead State did what it does best, gobbling up the rebounds and controlling the game. The Eagles had a 29-13 edge on the boards in the first half, when they opened a 13-point lead that was never seriously threatened.

The crowd of 11,346 at University of Dayton Arena was the largest for an NCAA opening-round game.