Eagles to host first place Belmont on Thursday night on ESPNU

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MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball (6-10, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference) looks to extend their winning streak to a season-high three games when they host first place Belmont (9-4, 3-0) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPNU.

Last week, the Eagles responded following a tough loss at UT Martin with home wins over Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville. 

"Getting those two wins last week was huge. That was the first part of our goal for this two-week period where we have four home games," said interim head coach Preston Spradlin. "I thought we came out a little slow in the first half against SIUE, but we responded really well after halftime. We cranked up our defense and we got stops, along with getting our guys going free offensively."

Morehead State is giving up 78.2 points per game, which ranks 11th in the OVC. But, in their last two games, both wins, they have limited EIU to 39 percent shooting and SIUE to 40 percent shooting. After the Cougars shot 50 percent in the first half, they limited them to just 31 percent shooting in the second half.

"I thought that we played great defensively and we just need to keep building on that. We knew both of those games would be tough, but we just grinded it out to get the wins," said senior guard Xavier Moon.

Moon matched a career-high with 25 points, while adding nine assists and six rebounds in the win over EIU. He finished 12-of-14 from the free throw stripe. He then had 16 points, eight assists, and five rebounds vs. SIUE.

He ranks seventh in the OVC with 15.5 points, first in FT% (.909), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4), fifth in minutes (33.7), sixth in assists (4.4), and 11th in steals (1.4). His .909 free throw percentage ranks 23rd in the country.

In the last six games against DI opponents, he is averaging 20.8 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.5 rebounds.

"What doesn't show up is all of the little things that Xavier (Moon) does for us like his leadership, his attitude, his professionalism that he brings every single day," said Spradlin. "I'm really proud of him. He's playing loose, he's playing free and his confidence is through the roof."

"I feel like my points are going to come, so I don't really try to focus on myself. I just try to get everyone involved both offensively and defensively, and make sure we are all sticking to the game plan and doing what we need to do to win," said Moon.

Senior forward Treshaad Williams has made his last 24 field goal attempts at Johnson Arena. He finished with a career-high 24 points and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the floor, while adding eight rebounds, in the win over Asbury, and then had 22 points on 8-of-8 shooting and 6-of-6 from the line, with six rebounds, in the win over EIU.

He is shooting 77 percent from the floor (49-64), which leads the OVC and would rank third in the NCAA, but he doesn't have enough field goals to qualify.

The Eagles enter Thursday night winners of two straight games, which marks the first time they have won two straight since they opened the season 2-0. Last season, they had four winning streaks of three or more. Their longest winning streak was seven straight, which took place at the end of the season and came to a close with a loss to UT Martin in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament.

Last year, they won three straight after opening conference play with a loss at Murray State.

Morehead State is 2-7 all-time vs. Belmont. Belmont won the first five contests, but Morehead State is 2-2 at Johnson Arena. Last season, the two teams split as Belmont won in Nashville, 73-67, and Morehead State won at Johnson Arena, 78-77.

"Belmont is always a great team. They're a great shooting team and they're really balanced," said Spradlin. "We have to guard the three, we have to make sure we win the battle on the boards, and guarding ball screens are all going to be very important."

Tickets are available for Thursday night's contest against Belmont. The game will be televised live on ESPNU with Dr. Jerry Punch and Mo Cassara on the call. Chuck Mraz and Jason Blanton will call the game live on the Eagles Sports Network.