MOREHEAD, Ky.--Morehead State men’s basketball concludes a three-game home stand Tuesday, hosting SIU-Edwardsville in a 7 p.m. game. It will be the Cougars’ first official trip to Johnson Arena, although the two teams did tangle in a scrimmage prior to last season.
Tuesday is the final game in the three-game stand, the longest such series of games at Johnson Arena since November. While the November stand resulted in a pair of heartbreaking losses to ULM and Kent State, this time it’s been nothing but profitable success. The Eagles have won the first two games and will be gunning for the three-game sweep Tuesday. While Tuesday’s game won’t count in the OVC standings like the wins over SEMO and Eastern Illinois did, it’s still important at this time of year to keep the winning streak alive.
Thursday and Saturday’s games resulted in two stellar performances by
Kenneth Faried, who earned the OVC Player of the Week honors for posting two double-doubles.
Maze Stallworth swished five treys against EIU and
Sam Goodman had a breakout week, tallying double digits for the first time in a MSU uniform.
SIU-Edwardsville is in the middle of the transition to NCAA Division I and will begin regular season competition in the OVC during the 2011-12 academic year and will be eligible for postseason competition in 2012-13. Because the transfer process includes a step up in scheduling, the Cougars have struggled so far this season. Standing at 2-15 overall, SIU-E has wins over Drake and UT-Arlington. They’ve only played one OVC opponent so far, Murray State and lost 82-51. They also played another common opponent with Morehead Sate, South Dakota, losing to the Coyotes, 100-76.
Led by Mark Yelovich’s 15.5 points and 6.3 rebounds and Amir McCleary’s 11.8 points per game, the Cougars average 61.8 points per game but surrender an average of 8.2 rebounds to their opponents.
After Tuesday, the Eagles close out the first half of their OVC slate with a 7 p.m. tip at arch-rival EKU.
