Men's Basketball Shoots for Three-Game Success Streak When UT Martin Visits Saturday
By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH | LISTEN | STATS
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Looking to extend a winning streak, Morehead State's men's basketball team is back in action Saturday hosting UT Martin. The game, which will be aired live on ESPN3, will tip off at 6:32Â p.m. ET or 30 minutes following the end of the women's game.
Bob Belvin (PBP) and Ray Giacoletti (analyst) will call the game on the worldwide leader's free online platform. Chuck Mraz and Dean Hardin have the radio call on the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Eagle Sports Network on WIVY-96.3 FM.
The Eagles (6-12/2-3 OVC)Â have won their last two games and are looking for the first three-game success streak since 2016-17. Meanwhile, UT Martin (5-11/0-5 OVC) will be searching for a way to put the kibosh on a seven-game losing skid.
GAME NOTES
THE SERIES WITH THE SKYHAWKS
Morehead State owns a 36-16 advantage in the all-time series with UT Martin, including nine consecutive wins in the series in games played here in Johnson Arena. Morehead State owns a commanding 20-4 lead in games played in Morehead, and UT Martin's last win in Morehead came back on Dec. 19, 2005.
SKYHAWK HUNTERS
Some of junior guard
Jordan Walker's most memorable efforts have come against UT Martin. In fact, his career was a 26-point outburst at UTM on Dec. 31, 2016. Last season, then junior
Lamontray Harris nearly averaged a double-double (14 points, 9 rebounds) versus theÂ
Skyhawks.Â
TRENDS AND TIDBITS
Lamontray Harris has scored exactly 19 points in three of the last five games and averaged 15.4 points in that span ... The Eagles 14 blocked shots in the last two games, including tying a season-best with nine rejections against Southeast Missouri ... De'von Cooper is 7-of-11 (.636) from three-point range in the last two games and averaged 14.0 points in the last two ...
A.J. Hicks had a season and career-best 11 assists versus SEMO and has nine games with at least six assists.
RARE OCCURRENCE
Morehead State swept UT Martin in the season series last year. It had been all the way back to 2006-07 the last time the Eagles had accomplished that. In fact, combined with the women's team's two wins, MSU had a clean sweep of the Skyhawks in 2017-18 , also the first time for that rare occurrence since 2006-07.
3-POINT STREAK LIVES ON
Morehead State has hit at least one three-pointer in 390 consecutive games, dating back to 2007 when the Eagles were held without a made one from beyond the arc against Jacksonville State.
RALLY CAPS ON
Morehead State's 14-point second-half rally to ultimately win Thursday against Southeast Missouri was the largest deficit overcome in a victory since Jan. 14, 2016 at SIU Edwardsville. There the Eagles trailed by 17 in the opening half before rallying for a 70-67 overtime win.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MAN
Lamontray Harris collected his seventh double-double of the season at Tennessee State and now has 15 of the stat variety in his four-year career.Â
HARRIS GOES HARD TO THE GLASS
Lamontray Harris has been cleaning up the glass in top form in 2018-19, ranking third among the league players with 8.4 rebounds per game. Harris has 532 career rebounds.
1K ON THE HORIZON
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 934 career points. With a minimum of 13 games remaining (more if the Eagles play in the OVC Tournament and beyond), he would only need to average 6.0 points to reach that milestone. Harris would be the 33rd member of the 1,000 career point club in program history.
DISHING DIMES
A.J. Hicks has dished out at least one assist in all 47 games of his two-year career. This season he ranks second in the OVC with 99 total helpers and has 10 games with at least five assists. Hicks' career-high 11 assists was the most in the OVC for Thursday night's games - surpassing Murray's Ja Morant who had nine.
SUPER DOOPER COOPER
Sophomore guard
De'Von Cooper has picked up his game when it counts. The Louisville native is averaging 10.8 points in the five OVC games - third on the team. He tied his career-high with 16 points against Southeast Missouri and nails 38 percent overall from three-point range.
AIR JORDANJordan Walker has reached double figures in the scoring column in nine of the last 10 games after a stretch of three straight in November under 10. The Indianapolis, Ind. junior also leads the team by hitting 43 percent of his attempts from three-point range.
