By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | WATCH | LISTEN | STATS | TICKETS
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Despite battling and scratching back before falling in double overtime Thursday, Morehead State men's basketball must put that memory to bed and get ready for the OVC's top team coming into town Saturday. Belmont visits as the Eagles and Bruins tip off at 4:35 p.m. ET from Johnson Arena.
Fans are encouraged to wear white for the Whiteout Belmont promotion. The game will air live on ESPN+ and WIVY-96.3 FM.
The Eagles (9-15/5-6) did not lose any ground in the league race, still sitting in sixth place. The top eight teams advance to the tournament in Evansville, Ind. Belmont (18-4/9-2) enters the game with six straight victories.
GAME NOTESÂ
THE SERIES WITH THE BRUINS
Morehead State trails 12-2 in the series with Belmont with the first game coming in the 2012-13 season. The Eagles' two wins against Belmont have both come at home and both were nailbiters. MSU won on a running shot with 4.9 seconds left in 2014-15 and claimed a 78-77 win in 2015-16 via two free throws with 9.6 seconds left. Belmont has now won the last five in the series.
1 OVER 1K, ANOTHER 1 CLOSE
During last Saturday's win at Eastern Illinois, senior forward
Lamontray Harris became the 33rd member of the 1,000 career point club at Morehead State. He enters the Belmont game with 1,015 career points, just one of five active players in the OVC over 1,000. TeammateÂ
Jordan Walker, a junior, is very close to the club as well, with 952 career points.
TRENDS AND TIDBITS
Jordan Walker has reached double-figures in points in 15 of the last 16 games ... Walker averaged 24.0 points per game in the last three, shooting 45 percent from the field in the last three contests ...
Lamontray Harris now boasts 50 career games in double figure scoring ... Morehead State ranks first in the OVC in fewest turnovers per game (11.9) against league foes ... In the last four games, Morehead State hit 80 percent (68-of-85) at the free throw line ... The Eagles have put together seven straight games with at least the same number or more assists than turnovers in the contest ... MSU averaged 80 points per game in the last three.
3-POINT STREAK CONTINUES ON
Morehead State has hit at least one three-pointer in 396 consecutive games, dating back to 2007 when the Eagles were held without a made one from beyond the arc against Jacksonville State.
AIR JORDAN
Junior guard
Jordan Walker scored 20 points or more for the 10th time this season in Thursday's game with Tennessee State. That's the most 20+ point efforts in a year since 2014-15 when Angelo Warner finished with 10. It's the most since current Houston Rocket Kenneth Faried totaled 15 performances of 20 or more back in 2010-11.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MAN
Lamontray Harris has eight double-doubles this season, ranking fourth in the OVC in that category. Harris also now has 16 career double-doubles.
ICE IN THEIR VEINS
Free throw shooting has been a keen specialty of
Lamontray Harris and
Jordan Walker. Throughout their careers they have been two of the best in the OVC. Harris is a career 79 percent shooter at the line, while Walker's career figure is a 78 percent accuracy.
HELPING HANDS
Senior guard
A.J. Hicks has dished out at least one assist in all 53 games of his two-year career. Hicks ranks third in the OVC with 131 total assists (5.4 per game) and ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio. He also boasts 12 games with at least six assists. With nine more helpers, Hicks would move onto the top 10 list for assists in a season at Morehead State.
A.J.'S CAREER NIGHT
A.J. Hicks went off for a career-high 29 points against Tennessee State Feb. 7. He hit a career-best four three pointers and added a career-best nine free throws.
BAKER'S BEST
Sophomore
James Baker had arguably his best career game at Eastern Illinois. The 6-6 forward scored a career-best 15 points on 3-of-3 shooting from behind the arc. His three-pointer with 1:02 remaining gave the Eagles the lead for good. Baker also leads MSU with 25 blocked shots this season.Â
CLUTCH AT THE LINE
Morehead State made 12 free throws at Eastern Illinois in the second half on 14 attempts. What's amazing is all 12 came in the final 42 seconds.
