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ESPNU
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball (13-12, 9-3 Ohio Valley Conference) seeks their season-high fifth consecutive victory when they travel to face Tennessee State (15-11, 6-7) on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPNU with Dr. Jerry Punch and Mo Cassera on the call.
At 9-3 in league play, the Eagles have the second best record in the OVC, behind only Belmont (18-5, 12-1). They have won seven of their last eight games and at 13-12 overall are above .500 for the first time since they were 2-1.
Senior
DeJuan Marrero has double-doubles in six of his last eight games and has 13 double-doubles this season. With 13 double-doubles, he leads the OVC and is tied for 18th in the country. He averages 8.6 rebounds, which ranks fifth in the OVC, and 3.2 offensive rebounds, which leads the league. In 12 OVC games, he is averaging 15.4 points and 9.3 rebounds.
He had a career-high 24 points, while adding 12 rebounds and five assists in the win over SEMO and then had 21 points and ten rebounds vs. Murray State.
"When you play with confidence on and off the court, that goes a long way. And that starts with practice. We spend countless hours in the film room getting ready for games. It's all about paying attention to detail and we've been doing that during this recent stretch," said senior forward
DeJuan Marrero.
Senior guard
Xavier Moon has scored in double figures in 21 of 25 games and has six 20-plus point games. He ranks eighth in the OVC with 16.3 points, fourth in free throw percentage (.889), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4), fifth in assists (4.7), fifth in minutes (35.0), and ninth in steals (1.3). His .889 free throw percentage ranks 29th in the country.
In OVC play, he leads the league with 38.2 minutes per game and is averaging 18.3 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.1 rebounds, while shooting .471 from three-point range. He had 16 points and 9 rebounds at EKU and 18 points, all in the second half, in the win vs. Murray State.
"Our confidence level is very high. We just come in every day knowing that we have a chip on our shoulder because no one expected us to play the way that we are playing right now. We just come in and work hard every week and take it one day at a time," said senior guard
Xavier Moon.
"Our seniors have been terrific," said head coach
Preston Spradlin. "
DeJuan Marrero is a double-double machine and as a fifth-year senior is very mature.
Xavier Moon is a clear-cut first team All-OVC player and should be in the conversation for player of the year. His role changed early in the year, switching over to the point guard position and playing 30 minutes a game to leading the league in minutes."
A month ago, the Eagles held on to beat Tennessee State 87-85 at Johnson Arena. Marrero had 22 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
Morehead State leads the all-time series against the Tigers, 37-31.
"It's a gauntlet this weekend heading down to Nashville. We're starting off by heading down to face a very athletic Tennessee State team in a nationally televised game, so it's going to be an incredible atmosphere," said Spradlin. "We have to do our best to negate all of those distractions and keep our focus."
Aside from the game airing live on ESPNU, Chuck Mraz and Jason Blanton will have the call on the Eagles Sports Network.
