GAME NOTES (PDF) | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- After finishing the non-conference schedule above .500, Morehead State's Men's Basketball team is ready to embark upon its 18-game OVC ledger. The action starts Thursday evening in Nashville, Tenn., when MSU faces Tennessee State at 9 p.m. ET.
The Eagles have won four straight against in the series. MSU will look to improve on its all-time record at TSU, where the Eagles are 15-23.
The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck
Mraz and Dean Hardin. It is also available on MSUEagles.com as well as network partner
WGOH 100.9 FM/1370 AM. The game will also air live on ESPN+.
2022-23 RECORDS
MSU: 7-6/0-0 OVC | TSU: 8-5/0-0 OVC
SERIES RECORD
Record vs. TSU: 44-38
First Meeting: 12/6/80 MSU won 88-80 at MSU
Last Meeting: 1/24/22 MSU won 67-54 at MSU
Streak: MSU, 4 games
Record vs. TSU in Nashville, Tenn.: 15-23
Record vs. TSU in Morehead: 28-11
Neutral Record: 1-4
NOTABLE
• Morehead State has won its first OVC road game in two consecutive seasons.
• Tennessee State is the former school of current MSU point guard
Mark Freeman. While at TSU in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Freeman was named Second-Team All-OVC and scored a career high 30 points ... against Morehead State.
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Jake Wolfe is 18-of-22 (.818) from the free throw line in the past three games. During that span, Wolfe has only six made field goals but he averaged 11.3 points thanks to his free throw accuracy.
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Alex Gross is one of just eight current players on Division I teams to score 2,000+ career points in college. He is the ONLY current player in Division I to record 2,000+ points AND 1,200+ career rebounds in college (Gross' first four seasons were in NAIA). His career college totals stand at 2,178 points and 1,318 career rebounds.
• Morehead State has the rare opportunity to potentially have three 1,000+ point college scorers on the same team this year.
Alex Gross (2,178) and
Branden Maughmer (1,808) already have surpassed 1,000.
Mark Freeman has 954.
•
Alex Gross has at least one blocked shot in eight consecutive games and has 1+ blocks in all but one game this season.
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Mark Freeman now has 43 career double-figure scoring games in his time at Tennessee State, Illinois State and Morehead State. He has appeared in 11 games this year with eight double-figure scoring efforts.
• Morehead State enters OVC play having shot 77 percent at the free throw line as a unit in the past three games. The Eagles have five games where they have made 20+ free throws this season.
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Kalil Thomas equaled his college career high with 21 points at Georgia Southern. He hit 8-of-9 overall and four three-pointers. Thomas also had 21 against Kentucky State this year and 21 versus Binghamton when he was at UMass-Lowell.
• The Eagles rank first or second in the Ohio Valley Conference in seven NCAA stats categories (blocks, FT%, FTs made, rebound margin, rebounds/game, defensive rebounds, scoring defense, 3-pt% defense).
• Head coach
Preston Spradlin needs only 1 win to become the sixth head coach in program history to lead his teams to 100+ wins.
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Preston Spradlin ranks first among the 10 current OVC head coaches in wins at their current school (99), winning percentage at their current school (.512), conference wins at the school (59) and conference winning percentage (.546).
• Among the 8 Division I men's basketball programs in Kentucky, Morehead State continues to rank first in wins in the last three seasons - 53.
