Perhaps the start of a new in-state rivalry is in store for Morehead State men's basketball Saturday night as the Bellarmine Knights travel over from Louisville to face the Eagles on FamilyLeisure.com Court in Johnson Arena. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. ET.
The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck
. It is also available on MSUEagles.com as well as network partner
100.9 FM/1370 AM. The game will be on ESPN+ with announcers Jared Stacy and Dean Hardin.
Record vs. Bellarmine: 7-0
First Meeting: 2/17/55 MSU won 107-80 at MSU
Last Meeting: 12/19/78 MSU won 88-87 at Bellarmine
Streak: MSU, 7 games
Record vs. Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky.: 3-0
Record vs. Bellarmine in Morehead: 4-0
Neutral Record: 0-0
NOTABLE
• Morehead State has now won 25 consecutive home openers. The last loss in a home opener was to Robert Morris on Nov. 25, 1997. In the last 41 seasons, the Eagles are now 38-3 in home openers after beating Campbellsville-Harrodsburg 99-58 Thursday night. Overall, MSU is 36-7 at home in the last four seasons now.
• Three of the Eagles' returnees -
Drew Thelwell,
Tucson Redding and
LJ Bryan - established multiple career highs vs. CUH. Redding had personal bests in rebounds, assists and steals. Thelwell had his best game as an Eagle in terms of points, rebounds, assists, field goals made and three-pointers made. Bryan, who was 8-of-10 shooting, had career standards in points, steals and field goals made. Bryan's career FG% is now 60 percent.
• Among the 8 Division I men's basketball programs in Kentucky, Morehead State ranks first in wins in the last three seasons - 47. Among all 27 college programs in the Bluegrass State, only one - Thomas More - had more wins (48) than the Eagles in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
• Morehead State was selected No. 1 in the preseason Ohio Valley Conference vote of coaches and media relations personnel. Senior guard
Mark Freeman was selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team.
• After scoring three in the opener at Indiana, Cedarville (Ohio) transfer
Branden Maughmer exploded for 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists against CUH. In his college career, he now has 1,732 points and 426 assists. He needs just 74 assists to achieve 1,700+ career points AND 500+ career assists.
• Junior guard
Drew Thelwell is averaging 12.5 points after two outings. He scored a career-high 14 against CUH. IN the two games, Thelwell has managed to hit 53 percent (10-of-19) from the field, including coming off a 6-of-7 game vs. CUH.
• Graduate transfer
Alex Gross came to MSU with lofty career totals from his four years at Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). He was a three-time NAIA All-American and finished there with 2,021 points, 1,226 rebounds, 426 assists and 363 blocked shots. He earned the NAIA men's basketball CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year award in 2021-22. He's averaging 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in his two Eagle games so far.
• UMass-Lowell transfer
Kalil Thomas' Eagle home debut included career-highs for him with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
• Among the six OVC teams who have played more than one game in 2022-23, MSU leads that group in rebounding margin at +8.0. MSU has ranked No. 1 or 2 in the OVC in rebound margin for the past two seasons.
• Head coach
Preston Spradlin needs seven wins to become the sixth head coach in program history to lead his teams to 100+ wins. Spradlin is just the second head coach in program history to lead his teams to back-to-back 20-win seasons.
• Bellarmine assistant coach Beau Braden was a member of the Eagle coaching staff in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 and returned for one season in 2017-18.
