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Conference Season Commences; Men's Hoops on the Road at SEMO on Last Day of 2023

12/30/2023 10:00:00 AM

GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)

MOREHEAD, Ky. --  The conference race begins for the defending OVC regular-season champs and preseason favorite Morehead State Men's Basketball team Sunday afternoon. The Eagles open league action at Southast Missouri at 4:15 p.m. ET.

Morehead State opens OVC action on the road in an arena (Show Me Center) where the program has traditionally had success. Since the 2007-08 season, MSU is 10-2 against SEMO on its home court. Overall, since that year, the Eagles own a 20-6 cushion over the Redhawks. MSU is 15-12 all-time in games in Cape Girardeau.

SEMO opened its league slate with a 93-91 overtime win at home over Southern Indiana Friday night.

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 live on ESPN+.

2023-24 RECORDS
MSU: 9-4, 0-0 OVC | SEMO 5-8, 1-0 OVC

SERIES RECORD
Record vs. SEMO: 36-22
First Meeting: 1/18/92 SEMO won 85-74 at SEMO
Last Meeting: 3/3/23 SEMO won 65-59 at OVC Tourney
Streak: SEMO, 1 game
Record in Cape Girardeau, Mo.: 15-12
Record in Morehead: 19-9
Neutral Record: 2-1

NOTABLE
Jordan Lathon earned the program's third OVC Player of the Week honor this year and his first-ever POTW accolade this week. Lathon scored 30 points in the Eagles' one-point setback at Indiana and added 18 against Alice Lloyd.

• Morehead State's 9-4 start is the best record after 13 games in 40 seasons. The 1983-84 team also sat at 9-4 following 13 games. MSU's nine non-conference regular-season wins is the program record.

• Morehead State currently leads the OVC in 12 stats categories - assist/turnover, assists per game, effective FG pct., FG pct., FG pct. defense, rebound margin, scoring defense, scoring margin, 3-pointers attempted per game, 3-point FG pct. defense, 3-pointers made per game and win-loss percentage.

• The Eagles shot 50 percent or better in seven of the 13 non-conference games.

• Morehead State ranks in the top 10 in the nation in Division I in field goal percentage defense, rebound margin and rebounds per game.

• Morehead State is 44-12 in OVC games over the past three seasons, winning 79 percent within the conference.

Drew Thelwell had the most masterful passing game in program history against Alice Lloyd (Ky.) on Dec. 21. The Orlando native dished out a school-record 19 assists, which is the most for any Division I player this season and just one short of the OVC single-game record. That was just a week after handing out 13 assists against St. Mary-Of-The-Woods (Ind.)

Drew Thelwell ranks No. 1 in the OVC in assists (79), assists per game (6.1) and assist/turnover ratio (2.7). His 79 helpers are the 12th most in the nation among D1 players this season. Last season at SEMO, Thelwell led the Eagles to a 65-59 win after leading scorer Mark Freeman went down on the first play. Thelwell scored a game-high 24 points.

Jordan Lathon raised his scoring average 7.3 points in the past seven games, scoring 20+ in four of those. Lathon knocked down six triples and a scored a career-high 30 at Indiana and had 26 in a comeback win at North Alabama.

Riley Minix, who ranks in the top five in the league in scoring, also leads the OVC with six double-doubles. He ranks second in rebounding with 9.1 per outing. In his collegiate career (4 seasons at Southeastern [Fla.]), Minix now has 64 double-doubles.

• It's somewhat rare for two double-doubles on one team in the same game and even rarer for three double-doubles in the same contest. But, the Eagles have done that twice - against Alice Lloyd (Ky.) and St. Mary-Of-The-Woods (Ind.).

• Morehead State, the OVC's only remaining team in Kentucky, is easily the winningest Division I MBB program in the state in the past three seasons with 76 wins.
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