GAME NOTES (PDF) | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Riding a four-game success streak, Morehead State Men's Basketball's next test comes Thursday evening when Tennessee Tech visits Johnson Arena and FamilyLeisure.com Court. Game time is 7 p.m. ET following the women's contest.
Morehead State gets a rematch with its longest running OVC opponent, Tech. The Golden Eagles defeated the Eagles in Tennessee three weeks ago. But, MSU has had the upper hand against TTU all-time at home, where MSU leads the series 56-17. MSU has won eight straight at home versus TTU and 15 of the past 16 games in Johnson Arena since 2006.
The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck
Mraz and Drew
Barnette. 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+ as Jared Stacy and Dean Hardin call the game.
2022-23 RECORDS
MSU: 14-9/7-3 OVC | TTU: 10-13/6-4 OVC
SERIES RECORD
Record vs. TTU: 92-68
First Meeting: 1/7/50 MOR won 59-57 at TTU
Last Meeting: 1/12/23 TTU won 79-62 at TTU
Streak: TTU, 1 game
Record in Cookeville, Tenn.: 27-48
Record in Morehead: 56-17
Neutral Record: 9-3
NOTABLE
• During Morehead State's current four-game winning streak, opponents have only averaged 60.8 points. MSU has also shot 47 percent overall and 41 percent from three-point range.
• The Eagles have won two straight games where the margin has been five points or less. MSU is now 4-1 in 5-point or less decisions this season.
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Mark Freeman is the OVC co-Player of the Week. Freeman lit up the nets for 25 points in the win over Little Rock and had 28 against SIUE, including 21 in the second half and a span of 14 straight Eagle markers in the middle of the second half.
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Mark Freeman is the OVC's leading scorer in conference games at 22.1 points per league outing. If he holds onto the scoring title, he would be the first Eagle since Kenneth Faried in 2010-11 to lead the conference in scoring. Faried averaged 16.4 against OVC competition that year.
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Mark Freeman is the ONLY conference player to have four league games with 25+ points.
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Alex Gross is one of just 13 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 1,300+ career rebounds in college (Gross' first four seasons were in NAIA). His career college totals stand at 2,297 points and 1,393 career rebounds.
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Alex Gross ranks first in the OVC in blocked shots with 40 and has had at least one block in all 23 games. He is seeking to allow MSU to have the league's top shot blocker in three straight seasons.
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Alex Gross' prior (and first) contest against Tech resulted in him tying his career high with 23 points.
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Drew Thelwell just missed extending his double figure scoring streak to 11 games with nine points against SIUE. Still, in the last 11 games, he averaged 12.3 points and shot better than 50 percent. Along with the nine points, he picked up the team with eight rebounds in the come-from-behind win over SIUE.
• Morehead State is now 34-5 at home in the past three seasons. Just this season, the Eagles are 10-2 and sport a +16.5 scoring margin at home. MSU also has a +9 rebound advantage on FamilyLeisure.com Court. In addition, the Eagles have nearly 100 more assists than their opponents at home.
• Among the 8 Division I men's basketball programs in Kentucky, Morehead State ranks first in wins in the last three seasons - 60.
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Preston Spradlin ranks first among the 10 current OVC head coaches in wins at their current school (106), winning percentage at their current school (.523), conference wins at the school (66) and conference winning percentage (.557).
• The Eagles will match up against TTU's leading scorer,
Jaylen Sebree, who sported an MSU uniform for two seasons, helping the Eagles win the 2020-21 OVC Tournament title.
