GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Men's Basketball will face off against a familiar school Wednesday night as the Eagles travel to former OVC rival Austin Peay. The Eagles and Govs will battle in the new downtown F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., at 8 p.m. ET.
MSU renews ones of its longest-tenured rivalries against APSU. The Eagles have won three straight in the series and lead 59-56. It's also a Homecoming for Eagle freshman and Clarksville native
Eddie Ricks III.
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. The game will air on ESPN+.
2023-24 RECORDS
MSU: 4-3 | APSU: 3-4
SERIES RECORD
Record vs. Austin Peay: 59-56
First Meeting: 1/11/64 MSU won 85-76 at MSU
Last Meeting: 2/5/22 MSU won 77-52 at MSU
Streak: MSU, 3 games
Record in Clarksville, Tenn.: 18-38
Record in Morehead: 37-16
Neutral Record: 3-2
NOTABLE
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Jordan Lathon is coming off a career-high 27-point outburst against Midway (Ky.) in which he drilled six three-pointers.
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Riley Minix leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks sixth in the nation, shooting 96 percent at the free throw line. The Southeastern (Fla. - NAIA) transfer made his first 21 free throws to open the season before missing his last one against Bellarmine. Minix scored more than 2,000 career points at SE and was the 2022-23 MBB NAIA Academic All-American of the Year.
•
Drew Thelwell could become the winningest individual player in program history this season. If the Eagles win 16 more games, that will give the four-year Eagle 88 wins when he was on the team. That would surpass Terrence Hill, who was a part of 87 wins from 2008-09 through 2011-12.
• Morehead State saw three players record double-doubles (
Riley Minix,
Dieonte Miles,
Eddie Ricks III) in the win over Midway (Ky.). According to records, its the first game with three double-doubles since at least 2001-02.
•
Kalil Thomas is the closest Eagle (besides
Riley Minix and
Mark Freeman who have eclipsed 1,000) to the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career. Thomas needs just 161 points to reach that milestone. Thomas' points have come primarily from three-point range. Of his 65 points this season, 45 are from triples.
•
Drew Thelwell ranks fifth in the OVC in assists (3.7/game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.9).
• The Eagles rank No. 1 in the OVC in rebound margin (+9.8), assists per game (14.6) and three-pointers made per game (8.4).
• Morehead State has now won 21 consecutive games when its shooting percentage finishes at 50 percent or better. The last time MSU hit 50 percent and lost was the NCAA Tournament game against West Virginia in 2021.
• After leading the OVC in scoring defense for two straight seasons, the Eagles are right there again. In the early going, MSU is tied with SIUE for second in limiting opponent scoring (68.0/game).
• MSU's 58 second-half points versus Midway (Ky.) were the most points in a half for an Eagle team since scoring 62 vs. Kansas City in 2018-19.
• Morehead State is the winningest Division I MBB program in Kentucky in the past three seasons with 71 wins.
• Associate head coach
Scott Combs and APSU head coach Corey Gibson have close ties. Combs, who was an assistant coach at APSU for 12 seasons, recruited Gibson to Clarksville and coached him from 2002-04. Combs ended his coaching time at APSU with five OVC championships.
