MOREHEAD, Ky. — The Morehead State men’s basketball team returns to Nashville for its final regular-season road game on Monday at Tennessee State. Tip-off from the Gentry Center is set for 8 p.m. ET. The Eagles were originally scheduled to play at TSU last Thursday, but the game was moved due to extreme winter weather.
Morehead State is making three separate trips to the Music City in less than a month. MSU suffered a heartbreaking 58-57 setback at Belmont on Feb. 14. The annual Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, March 4, and wraps up on Saturday, March 7, will be played at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.
The Eagles, who have split their last four contests, are 12-16 overall, 7-6 in league play and 6-9 on the road. MSU has been idle the past week due to a foot of snow in Eastern Kentucky. The Tigers, who dropped their fifth straight tilt on Saturday at Jacksonville State, are 5-23 overall, 2-11 in conference action and 5-6 at home.
Morehead State owns a 34-30 all-time advantage against Tennessee State. Senior Karam Mashour recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds in this year’s first meeting on Feb. 5, and the Eagles went on to post a 72-57 victory over the Tigers at Johnson Arena.
Ways to follow the game:
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO (CPU) | LIVE AUDIO (mobile) |LIVE STATS | TWITTER
Tennessee State will stream the game live and free of charge on OVCDigitalNetwork.com. The contest will also be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network, with Chuck Mraz calling all the action. The radio network includes WIVY-96.3 FM in Morehead, WCBJ-103.7 FM in Campton, MSUEagles.com (computers),m.Morehead.EZStream.com (mobile devices) and the Eagle Empire App.
Releases and pre-game information:
MOREHEAD STATE | TENNESSEE STATE | OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
Ten notes heading into the contest:
AN EAST DIVISION UPDATE
Morehead State (7-6) trails Belmont (10-5) by two games and Eastern Kentucky (8-5) by one contest heading into Monday’saction. The Eagles are 1-1 against the Bruins this season and 0-2 versus the Colonels. EKU and BU split a pair of regular-season affairs.
OVC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Murray State, which has won 22 straight games, is 24-4 overall and 14-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Racers have clinched the No. 1 seed, while the No. 2 seed will come from the East Division. Both division winners go straight to the OVC Tournament semifinals. Seeds No. 3 through 8 will be determined by league winning percentage.
ANALYZING THE RESULTS
Morehead State has posted a 3-7 record in games decided by five points or less and 7-5 mark in contests decided by 10 points or more. The Eagles have lost six Ohio Valley Conference tilts by a total of 37 points (6.2 pg), including three by just one possession.
REBOUNDING IS WHAT WE DO
Morehead State has led the Ohio Valley Conference in rebounding margin six straight seasons (2008-14), paced the league in rebounds five of the last six years and had the conference’s top individual four of the past six seasons. The Eagles currently lead the OVC in rebounding margin (+4.9), while ranking third in boards per game (35.5).
MORE ON THE GLASS CLEANING
Morehead State is +89 in total rebounds, +64 in offensive boards and +29 in second-chance points over its last 14 contests. The Eagles have only been outrebounded once during the stretch and six times in 28 affairs this season. MSU has four individuals averaging at least 4.0 boards this year, but only had three at this point last season.
TURNING IT ON IN OVC PLAY
Senior Karam Mashour has averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 13 Ohio Valley Conference games after averaging just 5.3 points and 3.7 boards in 15 non-conference contests. The forward has registered 10 double-figure scoring performances and five double-figure rebounding efforts in league play.
THE ONLY FOURTH-YEAR PLAYER
Senior Angelo Warner, the only fourth-year player at Morehead State, has recorded 1,459 points (11.8 pg) and 3,439 minutes (27.7 pg) in 124 career tilts. The guard has reached 10 points on 79 occasions. He needs just 11 more points to climb into MSU’s top-10 for career scoring.
WHEN I PASS, YOU SHOULD SCORE
Senior Kareem Storey places fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference with 4.4 assists per game and ranks sixth with 1.6 assists-per-turnover. The guard is averaging 7.4 points this season on 84 percent (42-of-50) from the foul line.
THE DEFENSE HAS IMPROVED
Through 28 games, Morehead State’s opponents are averaging just 65.6 points on 43.5 percent from the field. At this point last year, MSU’s foes were averaging 72.5 points on 44.2 percent from the floor. The Eagles have also allowed 27 fewer threes.
SOMETHING TO WORK ON
Morehead State has committed 649 fouls (23.2 pg) this season, which is more than any other Division I team. The Eagles have been whistled for 149 more infractions than their opponents this year, while MSU’s foes have also shot 215 more free throws.
