Eagles look to get back on winning track at ETSU

GAME NOTES | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday night at East Tennessee State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

The Eagles (6-5) have lost four of five. Three of those losses came on the road at schools that rank in the RPI's Top 85 - Pitt (26), Davidson (34), Indiana (82). On the season, they are 4-1 at home and 2-4 on the road.

Morehead State ranks 179 in the latest RPI, falling 49 spots after losing at home to Green Bay. They have the third best RPI in the OVC, behind Belmont (89) and Murray State (158).

After failing to score in double digits in the first nine games, senior forward Anthony Elechi has scored in double digits in back-to-back games. He recorded 11 points and five rebounds at Davidson, and followed that with a career-high 14 points and seven rebounds against Green Bay. He is shooting 64 percent from the floor on the season. He shot a combined 3-of-11 at Illinois State and at NKU, but is shooting 25-of-33, good for 76 percent, in the eight games since. He is averaging 6.3 points and 4.9 rebounds.

ETSU enters the game with a 5-6 record. They have wins at home against Green Bay, 103-90, on the road at Georgia Tech, 69-68, and at home against Eastern Kentucky, 87-81. Their lone loss at Freedom Hall came to UNC Wilmington, 94-73. They also have losses at Villanova, 86-51, and at Tennessee, 76-67. In their loss to the Vols, they led most of the way. They are led by senior guard Ge'Lawn Guyn, who averages 18.4 points per game and has knocked down a team-high 29 three-pointers, while shooting 44 percent from deep. The Lexington, Ky. native and Cincinnati transfer also has a team-high 10 blocks and 13 steals.

The contest will be the 54th meeting between Morehead State and East Tennessee State, with the Eagles leading, 28-25. They first met in 1954 and last met a season ago on Dec. 1 at Johnson Arena, as Morehead State fell, 63-59. Junior guard Corban Collins and senior forward Lyonell Gaines each had 12 points in the game.

The contest will air live on ESPN3. It will also be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with Chuck Mraz calling all of the action. The radio network includes WIVY-96.3 FM and several affiliates throughout eastern Kentucky. A live audio stream can be found on MSUEagles.com and the Eagle Empire app.

RPI UPDATE
Morehead State currently ranks third in the OVC with an RPI of 179, behind Belmont (89) and Murray State (158). The Eagles are 0-2 vs. RPI Top 50 - Pitt (26), Davidson (34), 0-3 vs. RPI Top 100 Indiana (82), 0-4 vs. RPI Top 150 - Green Bay , and 5-1 vs. RPI Top 150+.

SCORING DEFENSE
The Eagles enter tonight's contest ranked 40th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 63.8 points per game. They gave up 81 points to Davidson, which is the second most this season. IU scored 92 on Dec. 5. Through their first six games (5-1), MSU allowed 54.5 points, but have allowed 75.0 in their last five (1-4). After allowing 46 points in wins over Southern Miss, 61-46, and Saint Louis, 60-46, the Eagles were tied with Louisville for the nation's best scoring defense, at 54.5 points per game. Opponents are shooting 44 percent.

HITTING THE GLASS
Despite consistently facing a height disadvantage, the Eagles have a +5.6 rebounding advantage on the season. 40 percent of their rebounds are of the offensive variety, good for 14.5 per game, which ranks 20th in the country. They are averaging 13.4 second chance points per game. In six of 11 games, they have outrebounded their opponent by nine or more rebounds, CCU (39-27), ISU (37-27), Marshall (45-27), So. Miss (43-24), SLU (34-25), WCU (41-32). They are 5-1 in those games.

THE FLOOR GENERAL
Junior guard Corban Collins leads MSU with 12.1 points, 3.3 assists and 31.9 minutes per game. His plus/minus is +75, which ranks second on the team to Anthony Elechi's +87. He has ascored in double digits in four straight and in 8 of 11. He tied a career high with 22 points, and knocked down a career-high 4 three-pointers, in the 64-56 win over NKU. He played all 40 minutes in the win, which marked the second-most minutes he has ever played and the only time in his career that he has played every minute.

RICO NAMED NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward DeJuan "Rico" Marrero recorded back-to-back double-doubles after recording his first career double-double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds, in the 60-52 win over Western Carolina. He followed that with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Davidson and was later named OVC Newcomer of the Week. His 13 rebounds against WCU were the most by an Eagle this season. He leads the team with 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 off. rebounds per game. In eight of 11 games, he has led the Eagles in rebounds.

ARRINGTON HEATING UP
After failing to score in double figures in four straight games, senior guard Brent Arrington has scored ten points or more in five of his last six contests. He failed to score in the loss at IU after getting in early foul trouble. The preseason All-OVC selection ranks third on the team with 8.7 points and is second on the team with 16 steals and seven blocks. He marked a season high with 15 points and 4 steals in the loss at Davidson.

GET LOW, GET LOW, GET LOW, GET LOW
On the season, the Eagles are outscoring their opponents in the paint, 344-296. They have been outscored in the paint three times this season, all losses, at Indiana, 46-24, at Pitt, 32-30, and at Davidson, 34-28, vs. Green Bay, 46-32.

GIVE ME THAT
The Eagles average 9.1 steals per game, which ranks 16th in the country. Four players have at least 11 steals on the season, led by Marrero's 19. They had a season-high 15 steals against CCU and 13 in the win over Marshall. They are averaging 7.1 fast break points per game, while giving up just 4.1 fast break points.

A BALANCING ACT
Eight different players have played in every game and are averaging at least 3.5 points for the Eagles. They have had at least seven players score in every game. In seven of 11 games this season, at least nine different players have scored.