By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- All teams are back at 0-0. It's the start of the Ohio Valley Conference basketball season, and the Morehead State men will open things up at Tennessee Tech Thursday. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. ET from the Eblen Center.
Chuck Mraz and Jason Blanton will have the radio call on WIVY-96.3 FM, and the game is also available on the OVC Digital Network.
Morehead State enters with a 4-7 mark, while the TTU Golden Eagles are 8-5.
GAME NOTES
THE TENNESSEE TECH SERIES
In one of the longest-running OVC series, Morehead State holds an 83-65 advantage over Tennessee Tech. Overall, the Eagles have claimed six of the last seven meetings and have won three of the last four times the teams played in Cookeville, Tenn.
OVC OPENERS
Morehead State will look to halt a three-year losing streak in Ohio Valley Conference openers. This game will also mark the second year in a row the conference opener occurs in December. Prior to last season, the last time the OVC opened its schedule prior to the New Year was 2011-12.
18 LEAGUE TILTS THIS YEAR
The OVC is back to playing an 18-game league schedule this season. The last time that took place was a three-year period from 2008-09 until 2010-11. During that time, the Eagles went 40-14 in OVC games.
BOMBS AWAY
The Eagles enter the game with Tech having averaged 8.6 three-pointers made in their last three contests. Morehead State dropped in 10 triples at Butler, which tied a season best.
A DJIMON IN THE ROUGH
Sophomore guard
Djimon Henson has scored in double-digits in eight of the last nine games, including a 23-point day against Alice Lloyd (Ky.) and a 22-point night at Butler. Just in the last two games, Henson averaged 19.5 points and shot 52 percent (15-29) from the field.
TIME TO GO STREAKINGSophomore guard
Jordan Walker is one of the most accurate free throw shooters in the OVC (.864), and he enters conference play having made 18 consecutive free throws over the last four games.
REBOUND U.The Morehead State men have either led the Ohio Valley Conference or ranked second in rebounding margin now in 11 consecutive seasons, and that trend is nearly holding true again this season after the Eagles out-boarded Alice Lloyd 62-18 and KCU 50-27. The are currently third in the conference at +5.5.
IT'S GOOD TO BE KING
Junior forward
Londell King now has three career double-figure games after a career-high 17 point outburst against Kentucky Christian. He also has notched two double-doubles. King leads the Eagles with 6.2 rebounds per game as well. He was named OVC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 18.
SMACK BACKMorehead State is averaging 4.0 blocked shots per outing, and that ranks third among all OVC schools so far in 2017-18. The Eagles have notched six or more blocks four times.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
Junior guard
A.J. Hicks handed out a career-best seven assists at Butler on Dec. 19 and only committed one turnover. In the last three games, Hicks had a +2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.
DE'VON DEADLY FROM DEEPFreshman De'von Cooper averaged 10 points and shot 45 percent (5-11) from three-point range in his last three games.
