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MOREHEAD, Ky.--With a home game in the OVC Tournament secure, Morehead State men’s basketball turns its sights on achieving goals and solidifying its standing.
The Eagles (18-8; 12-3 OVC) host arch rival Eastern Kentucky with a whole host of milestones on the line. Should MSU win, they will not only clinch at least second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, but they will also reach one of the team’s preseason goals, to equal or better the team record for OVC wins in a season. The current mark is 13 wins, set by the 2002-03 team. A win Wednesday would equal that.
Standing in the way will be an EKU team currently sitting in third place (18-9; 10-5 OVC) and fighting not to slip out of the race for a home game. A win over MSU would all but ensure the Colonels are playing in Richmond for the first round. Winners of four of the last five, EKU also lost to EIU last weekend and will be looking for redemption.
The Eagles got their redemption with a 73-54 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday. Senior Maze Stallworth had his second standout performance in a row and his third in the last four games. The senior, who is second in scoring at MSU at 12.7, is behind leader Kenneth Faried’s 17.2 points per game. Morehead State has scored 74 or more in each of the last four games, reversing a trend from the previous four games where MSU was held under 70 points in each game.
EKU is averaging 70.8 points per game, led by Justin Stommes’ 14.7 points per game. Josh Taylor tallies 13.1 points per game and Spencer Perrin pulls down a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game. Rebounding is the Colonels’ Achilles’ heel, giving up 6.1 boards per game. They counter that by being an excellent shooting team. As a team EKU hits 47.2 percent of its shots and seven Eastern players hit their shots more than 45 percent of the time.
MSU will step out of OVC play Saturday, travelling to Illinois State for the Bracketbuster at 5:50 p.m. ET.
