By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES | ESPN+ | EAGLE SPORTS RADIO NETWORK | LIVE STATS
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Even with a game with the top two teams in the OVC looming this weekend, Morehead State men's basketball is focused on one thing alone - preparing for Tennessee State. The Eagles and Tigers will square off in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET with MSU looking to tie the program record with its 12th consecutive victory.
The Eagles (15-6/12-2 OVC) sit in second place in the OVC race. The Tigers are just 3-14 and 2-12 in the league, but the record is somewhat deceiving. TSU lost five of its league games by a combined 14 points, and two of its three conference wins are at home in the Gentry Center.
Morehead State has not been defeated in 2021, with 11 straight victories. The program record is 12 by the 1983-84 squad, which finished 25-6 and won the OVC Tournament and an opening round NCAA Tournament game. Morehead State's 12 OVC wins this season is also the third best in a single season in program history.
The game will air live on ESPN+ as well as MSUEagles.com (WIVY-96.3 FM audio).
LAST TIME AGAINST TENNESSEE STATE (Full Recap | Box Score)
Coming back from nine down with four minutes to play, Morehead State men's basketball took Tennessee State to overtime March 4, 2020 in the first round of the OVC Tournament, but the Eagles eventually succumbed to the Tigers 74-67 at the Ford Center. The Eagles saw their 2019-20 campaign close at 13-19, and it marked the finale for seniors
Jordan Walker and
Djimon Henson. Walker finished his career ranked No. 11 in career scoring at MSU with 1,478 points. Henson scored seven tonight and concluded with 849 career points. It was a pair of freshman, though, who led the Eagles. Guard
Ta'lon Cooper netted a game-high 18 points, including 7-for-7 free throws. Forward
Tyzhaun Claude scored 11 and nearly missed his fourth double-double with nine rebounds.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Record vs. Tennessee State: 40-38
First Meeting: Dec. 6, 1980 (MOR won 88-80)
Streak: TSU, 1 game
Record in Nashville: 13-23
Record in Morehead: 26-11
Last 5 Meetings
1/12/19 Nashville, Tenn. W 74-61
2/7/19 MOREHEAD, KY. L (2 OT) 81-80
1/16/20 Nashville, Tenn. L 64-48
2/22/20 MOREHEAD, KY. W 66-63
3/4/20 Evansville, Ind. (OVC Tournament) L (OT) 74-67
NOTABLE
• Freshman forward
Johni Broome was named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week Monday. The overall award goes to the nation's best mid-major player at the end of the year
•
Johni Broome was named OVC Freshman of the Week for the sixth time this season. Broome's six awards trails only Ricky Minard (2000-01) and Erik Brown (1998-99) for the program record of seven for Freshman of the Week Awards.
• Junior guard
Skyelar Potter averaged 15.5 points in the last four games and also earned his second OVC Newcomer of the Week honor Monday. Potter led the Eagles with 20 points and 13 rebounds - his second career double-double - against Austin Peay.
• Morehead State jumped up seven spots to 18th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week. It's the first time since 2010-11 the Eagles have been ranked in this poll. Of the Eagles' six losses, four came to teams ranked in the AP top 25 poll or receiving votes at the time.
• The Eagles have held four opponents - Murray State (23), UT Martin (22), Southeast Missouri (19) and Jacksonville State (26) - to their lowest point totals for a half in a game. And MSU has limited five foes - Eastern Kentucky (62), Tennessee Tech (54), SEMO (50), JSU (55) and UTM (44) - to their lowest overall point totals in a league game.
• The Eagles have won five consecutive road games for the first time since 2010-11 and five consecutive OVC road games for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
• With another block on Thursday against Murray State, James Baker is now in third place in MSU program history with 116 career blocked shots
• In the past six games, Morehead State averaged 75.3 points and recorded an average margin of victory of 15.3.
• Morehead State ranks first in the OVC (league games only) in: scoring defense (59.9), FG pct. defense (.388), 3-pt defense (.284), rebound avg. (37.9), defensive rebounds (27.6), rebound margin (+8.3) and blocks (5.1).
• Junior guard
DeVon Cooper has only been held to less than 10 points in a game four times this season, leading the team with 17 double-figure efforts. He has 38 career double figure games too.
• In OVC games only,
Johni Broome ranks first in blocks (26) second in defensive rebounds (5.8, third in rebounding (8.1) and sixth in FG percentage (.602).
