Men's Hoops Looks to Retain the Ellis Johnson Trophy When the Eagles Battle Marshall Monday
By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH | LISTEN | STATS
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State men's basketball is set for its annual matchup with regional rival Marshall. The teams will tip off at 7 p.m. ET Monday at the Cam Henderson Center in West Virginia.
The Eagles (3-5) have been idle since Nov. 30 against Ohio-Chillicothe, while in that time frame Marshall (5-4) has played three times and dropped all three.
The game can be heard live on WIVY-96.3 FM and MSUEagles.com and can be seen live on ESPN+.
GAME NOTES
ELLIS JOHNSON TROPHY UP FOR GRABS AGAIN
For many seasons, Morehead State and Marshall have played for the Ellis Johnson Trophy. Ellis Johnson was a coach at both institutions with MSU's arena named after him. Marshall holds a slight 52-47 edge in the series, which began in 1939-40, but the Eagles claimed an 86-83 thriller over the eventual NCAA Tournament 'Herd squad on Nov. 16, 2017. MSU's last win in the Henderson Center was Nov. 26, 2014 - 77-68.
TRENDS AND TIDBITS
In the last five games, senior guard
A. J. Hicks has averaged 16.8 points per game ... Morehead State has played 1,600 minutes of action in 2018, and there have been only four combined lead changes in all those games ... Senior forward
Lamontray Harris has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games ... In both games where MSU has nailed 10 more more three-pointers, the Eagles have shot 50 percent or better from 3-point range in those games ... The Eagles have played two straight games where they had nine turnovers and the opponent had 17 ... Sophomore guard
De'von Cooper has two straight double-figure scoring games (13.5/game) after playing his first 35 career games with just seven double-figure efforts.
MARCH TOWARD 1,000
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 791 career points in 97 career games.
3-POINT STREAK KEEPS MOVING AHEAD
Morehead State has hit at least one three-pointer in 380 consecutive games, dating back to 2007 when the Eagles were held without a made one from beyond the arc against Jacksonville State.
LAST TIME AGAINST MARSHALL
Over the course of eight ties and nine lead changes, Morehead State men's basketball picked up its first win of the 2017-18 season with an 86-83 thriller over Marshall in the Eagles' home-opener at Johnson Arena. After shooting 15-for-36 (.417) in the opening period, Morehead State came out firing on all cylinders with 15-of-29 (.517) shooting in the second half. Junior guard
A.J. Hicks anchored the Eagles with 17 points and seven assists, logging his best game in a Morehead State uniform.
Lamontray Harris, who did not score in the first half, exploded for 14 points and nine rebounds on the night.
THE MAN WITH THE PLAN - TO GET YOU THE BALL
Senior guard
A.J. Hicks ranks second in the OVC with 5.2 assists per game. Hicks has at least five assists in five of the eight games this season and has 18 career games with five or more assists. To put it in perspective, Hicks' assists have been responsible for 30 percent of Morehead State's points in 2018-19.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Morehead State ranks first in the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounds. The Eagles pull down 14.6 boards off the offensive glass. The rebounds lead to an average of 13.8 second-chance points per outing.
START ME UP
Morehead State has used the same starting five (
A.J. Hicks, De'von Cooper, Jordan Walker, Lamontray Harris and
Malek Green) in all eight games this season. Last season, that combo started two games with both being losses. In 2017-18, MSU used 10 different starting fives with the the most used lineup only starting nine games together.
A DJIMON IN THE ROUGH
Rough was actually not the word for junior guard
Djimon Henson, however, against Ohio-Chillicothe. The Indianapolis, Ind., knocked down five three-pointers and tied his career high with 23 points.