CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Morehead State men's basketball team continues its four-game road trip on Thursday at Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri. Tip-off from the Show Me Center is set for 8 p.m. ET.
The Eagles, who have dropped two straight, are 7-2 at home this season, but just 1-8 on the road. The Redhawks, who have lost three in a row, are 6-2 at home. MSU is 2-2 in OVC games, while SEMO is 2-3 in league contests.
Morehead State has won eight of the last nine meetings against Southeast Missouri and owns a 23-17 upper hand in the all-time series. The Redhawks tallied a 67-51 victory over the Eagles last year at the Show Me Center.
Morehead State is in the midst of its longest road trip of the campaign. The Eagles wrap up the week on Saturday with a 7 p.m. ET affair at OVC opponent UT Martin. That tilt will follow an MSU vs. UTM women's game at 5 p.m.
Ways to follow the game:
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO (CPU) | LIVE AUDIO (mobile) | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
The game will be webcast free of charge on OVCDigitalNetwork.com. It will also be broadcast on WIVY-96.3 FM in Morehead, MSUEagles.com (computers) and m.Morehead.EZStream.com (mobile devices). Chuck Mraz will call the play-by-play on radio.
Releases and pre-game information:
MOREHEAD STATE | SOUTHEAST MISSOURI | OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
Ten notes heading into the contest:
THE LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Kentucky used a 23-1 run over a nine-minute span to hand Morehead State a 59-52 defeat on Saturday at McBrayer Arena. The Eagles slipped to 8-10 on the season, 1-8 on the road and 2-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
A HUGE SECOND PERIOD
Morehead State outscored Austin Peay, 52-33, in the second half on Wednesday. The differential was MSU’s largest against Division I opponents this season, and its total output was the second largest vs. this year’s D-I foes.
CLEANING THE GLASS
Morehead State posted 20 offensive rebounds against Austin Peay, which led to a season-best 30 second-chance points. MSU’s 12 offensive boards and 19 second-chance points in the second half alone fueled a comeback and forced overtime.
KELLY IS IN A GROOVE
Junior Drew Kelly posted his fifth straight double-figure scoring performance, with team highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds, at Eastern Kentucky. He is averaging a team-best 13.0 points, plus 5.3 rebounds, in Ohio Valley Conference games.
TURNER IS PICKING IT UP
Junior Bakari Turner scored a team-high 30 points in two tilts last week after averaging just 5.1 on 31 percent from the floor over his first 16 games. He registered a career-best 19 at Austin Peay and added 11 at Eastern Kentucky.
A REALLY STRONG BENCH
Morehead State has tallied a 539 (29.3 pg) to 270 (15.0 pg) advantage in bench points this year. The Eagle reserves have also outscored their foes in 15 of 18 games. Junior Maurice Lewis-Briggs leads the current group with 8.3 points per outing.
LIVING IN HOTELS AND ON THE BUS
Morehead State is in the midst of four straight road games and won’t play another home game until Jan. 24 vs. Belmont. The Eagles are 18-19 (.486) in Ohio Valley Conference road affairs over the past five seasons, but just 8-26 (.235) in non-conference road tilts.
ANALYZING HOME vs. ROAD
Morehead State averages 77.2 points on 45 percent from the field and is +9.0 in rebounds in nine games (7-2) at Johnson Arena. The Eagles average just 63.7 points on 39 percent from the floor and are -0.2 on the boards in nine contests (1-8) away from the friendly confines.
TOO MANY WHISTLES ...
Morehead State has been called for a nation-leading 443 fouls, while its opponents have only been whistled for 306 infractions. The Eagles have attempted just 351 free throws, while their foes have gone to the foul line 493 times.
... BUT IT’S GOTTEN BETTER
Morehead State committed 126 more fouls than its opponents over the first 12 games this season (26.2 to 15.7), but has been whistled for only 11 more infractions over the last six contests (21.5 to 19.7).
