By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH | LISTEN
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Following an eight-day layoff for the Holiday break, Morehead State men's basketball will look to keep up winning momentum Saturday when the Eagles face Southeastern Conference foe Missouri. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET at Mizzou Arena.
The Eagles (4-8) won a back-and-forth battle with IUPUI 74-70 on Dec. 21. MSU is still searching for its first true road win in 2018-19. Missouri (8-3) has won five straight, including a decisive win in the "Braggin Rights" game on Dec. 22 against Illinois.
The game will air live on the Eagle Sports Radio Network on WIVY-96.3 FM and MSUEagles.com. It will also be on the SEC Network Plus.
GAME NOTES
THE SERIES WITH THE TIGERS ...
Is a short one. The Tigers and Eagles have only met one time in each program's respective histories. In 1984-85, Missouri claimed a 75-60 win in Columbia on Dec. 3.
TRENDS AND TIDBITS
Morehead State shot 48 percent (55-of-115) from the field overall in the last two games ...
Jordan Walker has nine double-figure scoring games and five of them have been at least 20+ point efforts ... Walker now has 36 career double-figure scoring performances ...
A.J. Hicks averaged 7.3 assists per outing in the last three games and has seven games with at least six assists ... MSU's 51 percent field goal accuracy at Wright State was a season-best against a Division I opponent ... MSU's current starters have combined for 1,583 of the Eagles' total 2,427 minutes played this year, an average of nearly 30 per game.
3-POINT STREAK KEEPS GOINGMorehead State has hit at least one three-pointer in 384 consecutive games, dating back to 2007 when the Eagles were held without a made one from beyond the arc against Jacksonville State.
SPRADLIN VS. THE SEC
Today's game marks just the second official game MSU head coach
Preston Spradlin has coached the Eagles against an SEC team. He led the Eagles during an 85-76 loss at Mississippi State during his interim head coaching season in 2016-17. However Spradlin is familiar with SEC basketball having spent five seasons on head coach John Calipari's staff at Kentucky.
FIRSTSThe Eagles' win over IUPUI marked the first victory this year when the Eagles trailed at the half, trailed with five minutes remaining and committed more turnovers than the opponent.
BAKER'S DOZEN
Sophomore forward
James Baker made the most of his first start in 2018-19 and just the third starting assignment of his career at Samford. Baker put in a career-best 12 points for just his third-ever double-figure scoring effort. He also tied his career high with eight rebounds in a career-long 36 minutes. After not seeing more than 22 minutes floor time in the first nine games, Baker has averaged 30 minutes the last three outings.
CRASH THE GLASSMorehead State ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounds. The Eagles pull down 13.1 boards off the offensive glass, and the Eagles also rank second in offensive rebounding percentage at .327.
1,000 IN SIGHT
Lamontray Harris has a legitimate chance to reach 1,000 career points if he can keep up his average this season. He has piled up 847 career points. With a minimum of 19 games remaining (more if the Eagles play in the OVC Tournament and beyond), he would only need to average 8.0 points to reach that milestone. Harris would be the 33rd member of the 1,000 career point club in program history.
GREEN(ER) PASTURES
Sophomore forward
Malek Green posted his first double-double of the year and just the third of his career against IUPUI, scoring 13 and grabbing 11 boards. Nine of the rebounds were defensive and took away a second-chance opportunity for IUPUI. He averages 3.9 defensive rebounds per game.
WALK(ER) THIS WAYJordan Walker ranks sixth in the OVC in scoring average, putting in 15.3 per outing. He is the last of only six OVC players averaging more than 15 per game. If you erase the game where he was held scoreless (for just the second time in the last two years), Walker scores nearly 17 per game.
PICK POCKET
A.J. Hicks is one of the best pickpockets in the OVC, ranking second in the conference with 2.2 swipes per game. Hicks tied his own school record with nine takeaways against Northern Kentucky. In less than two full seasons in Division I ball, he has 77 steals.
