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Men's Basketball Starts Illinois Road Trip at EIU Thursday Night

1/10/2024 10:00:00 AM

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

MOREHEAD, Ky. --  Morehead State Men's Basketball heads to the Land of Lincoln in Illinois this week for a two-game road swing at Eastern Illinois and SIUE. The Panthers at EIU provide the battle on Thursday evening. Tip-of at Groniger Arena is set for 8:30 p.m. ET following the women's game.

While still trailing 26-21 in the all-time series with Eastern Illinois, MSU has won five straight over the Panthers since the 2020-21 season and eight of the last 10. In the five-game success span, MSU has outscored EIU by a 74.0-55.8 average margin.

The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM flagship station) with Chuck Mraz and Tom Lewis. It is also available on MSUEagles.com. The game also airs live on ESPN+.

2023-24 RECORDS
MSU: 12-4, 3-0 OVC | EIU: 8-8, 2-1 OVC

THE SERIES IN DEPTH
Record vs. EIU: 21-26
First Meeting: 12/14/81 MSU won 79-77 at MSU
Last Meeting: 2/22/23 MSU won 69-63 at EIU
Streak: MSU, 5 games
Record vs. EIU in Charleston, Ill.: 8-15
Record vs. EIU in Morehead: 13-11
Neutral Record: 0-0

NOTABLE
Jordan Lathon earned his second OVC Player of the Week and added Newcomer of the Week too, sharing honors for both with EIU's Tiger Booker. On the season, MSU now has 10 individual OVC weekly awards. Riley Minix has been Player and Newcomer three times, Lathon has three accolades and Eddie Ricks III was Freshman of the Week once.

• With Jordan Lathon's two 30-point games and Riley Minix's one, this marks the first season since 2003-04 that the Eagles have produced 3+ 30-point efforts. Former OVC Player of the Year and MSU Hall of Fame member Ricky Minard scored 30+ five times in 2003-04.

• The Eagles rank No. 1 in the OVC in 12 different official NCAA stats categories. MSU ranks in the top 10 nationally in D1 in rebound margin (4th) and field goal defense (7th).

Drew Thelwell is just eight wins away from becoming the winningest individual player in program history. The program standard for success is 88 by Terrence Hill from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

• Morehead State is 47-12 in OVC games over the past four seasons. In the past four seasons, the Eagles are 21-8 in OVC road games.

Jordan Lathon (24.0) and Riley Minix (21.0) rank 1 and 3, respectively, in the OVC in scoring in conference games. In all games, Minix comes in at No. 2 in points (17.8) while Lathon is sixth (16.1). The last time MSU had two players average 15.0+ points for a season was 2010-11 (Kenneth Faried and Demonte Harper).

Riley Minix recorded 19 rebounds against Tennessee Tech, second most by an individual in the OVC this season. His total was the highest rebound figure for an Eagle since Chad Posthumus grabbed 20 against Asbury (Ky.) on Dec. 30, 2013.

Riley Minix has recorded 65 career double-doubles in his time at MSU (OVC best 7) and Southeastern (Fla.) (58). An NAIA All-American, Minix was also the 2022-23 NAIA Academic All-American of the Year.

Drew Thelwell ranks first in the OVC and ninth nationally with 97 assists. He has 10 games with 5+ assists, including a school-record 19 against Alice Lloyd (Ky.) on Dec. 21. It's the most by a D1 player in a game this season.

Jordan Lathon's scoring rise has been meteoric. Since Nov. 22, Lathon hasn't missed double figures (10 straight games) with seven of the 10 being 20+ point efforts and two 30+ scoring outbursts. Since Nov. 22, his scoring average has risen 9.0 points.

Kalil Thomas sits just 40 points away from 1,000 for his college career. While he is not playing currently, Mark Freeman (1,200+) also has 1,000+, while Riley Minix is over 2,000 for his collegiate tenure.

• MSU is 26-3 in January games in the past four seasons.

• 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 79 wins.
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