Record vs. SEMO: 36-21
First Meeting:1/18/92 SEMO 85-74 at SEMO
Last Meeting: 2/11/23 MSU won 65-59 at SEMO
Streak: MSU, 1 game
Record in Cape Girardeau, Mo.: 15-12
Record in Morehead: 19-9
Neutral Record: 2-0
• Morehead State enters the tournament as the number 1 seed for just the second time in program history and the first since winning the regular-season title in 1983-84.
• MSU enters the OVC Tournament with wins in 11 of its last 12 games. The Eagle defense held opponents to 60 points or less in six of those wins.
• Morehead State has won 10 OVC regular-season titles in its history: 1955-56, 1956-57, 1960-61, 1962-63, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1983-84, 2002-03 and now 2022-23.
• Morehead State has registered its third consecutive 20-win campaign. It's only happened one other time in program history, from 2008-09 through 2010-11.
• Senior guard
Mark Freeman is the OVC Player of the Year, graduate center
Alex Gross is the OVC Defensive Player of the Year and head coach
Preston Spradlin was honored as the OVC Coach of the Year. It's the second COTY for Spradlin and his staff in the last two seasons. Freeman is the first Eagle since Kenneth Faried in 2010-11 to be named POTY and sixth Eagle all-time. Gross is the second straight Eagle to earn DPOTY and third overall. Both Gross and Freeman were First-Team All-OVC and Gross was also All-Newcomer.
• Morehead State lost four of its five starters from 2021-22 and only returned players who combined to average 13.1 points, but the Eagles still managed to clinch the OVC regular-season title.
• MSU has a 6-3 all-time record in OVC Tournament games in the Ford Center. In the last two seasons, the Eagles are 5-1, reaching the title game two consecutive seasons. In 2020-21, MSU won all three of its games en route to the tournament championship.
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Mark Freeman ranks seventh overall in scoring (14.8/game) in the league. He had nine games with at least 18 points in OVC play and was one of only three players to score 25+ in four games against OVC teams.
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Mark Freeman's scoring averaged dipped just a bit at the end of the regular season but that didn't mean he didn't have an impact still. Freeman averaged 7.0 assists per game in the last three games. He enters the tournament with 102 assists on the year.
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Alex Gross is one of just 25 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 1,400+ career rebounds in college (Gross' first four seasons were in NAIA). His career college totals stand at 2,397 points and 1,458 career rebounds.
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Alex Gross led the OVC in blocked shots with 64 and ranks 20th nationally. He had at least one block in all but three games this season and has nine games with 3+ swats.
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Drew Thelwell has become a real under-the-radar star for the Eagles. He scored in double figures in 14 of the 18 OVC games and had a career-best 24 points to lead MSU to a win at SEMO when
Mark Freeman went down on the first possession. He also has 91 assists and had 4+ helpers in 11 games this year.
• Among the 8 Division I men's basketball programs in Kentucky, Morehead State ranks first in wins in the last three seasons - 67.
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Preston Spradlin ranks first among the 10 current OVC head coaches in wins at their current school (113), winning percentage at their current school (.540), conference wins at the school (73) and conference winning percentage (.580).
• Morehead State finished 44-12 (.785) in OVC games in the past three seasons.
• Morehead State is the OVC leader in scoring defense and rebound margin. MSU also helped its cause by ranking second in the conference in fewest fouls committed per game.
