GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Men's Basketball will be showcased to a national audience again on Thursday evening when the Eagles and Eastern Illinois are featured in the OVC ESPNU game of the week. Tip-off is at 9 p.m. ET from Charleston, Ill.
Lowell Galindo and Mark Adams have the call on ESPNU. MSU appeared twice on ESPNU in last season's regular season slate, with both games versus SIUE (the teams each won on their home courts). The Eagles have won a game on ESPNU four straight seasons.
Morehead State owns seven consecutive wins against Eastern Illinois and has won the last four matchups in Charleston. The Eagles have won nine of the last 10 in the series and 15 of the previous 19 against the Panthers. In Morehead State's seven-game winning streak against EIU, the Eagles have allowed EIU just 54.0 points per game and only once scoring more than 60.
Eastern Illinois has dropped four straight games to fall to the bottom of the OVC standings. Naykel Shelton's 16.1 points average leads EIU, while Kooper Jacobi leads the conference in rebounding at 9.5 per outing.
The game can also be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM flagship station as well as WGOH in Grayson, Ky.) with Chuck Mraz and
Matt Schabert. It is also available on MSUEagles.com.
2024-25 RECORDS
MSU: 12-7, 7-1 OVC | EIU: 5-13, 1-6 OVC
THE SERIES
Record vs. EIU: 23-26
First Meeting: 12/14/81 MSU won 79-77 at MSU
Last Meeting: 2/10/24 MSU won 69-57 at MSU
Streak: MSU, 7 games
Record vs. EIU in Charleston, Ill.: 9-15
Record vs. EIU in Morehead: 14-11
Neutral Record: 0-0
NOTABLE
• Morehead State has won 36 consecutive games when its opponent scores 60 or fewer points.
• Morehead State is 9-1 in its last 10 games. In the Eagles' last four games - all wins - MSU has allowed just 55.0 points per game and only 21 percent shooting from three-point range for the opponents. In addition, the last four opponents have combined for only 22 assists against the Eagle defense.
• The 47 points allowed to Western Illinois Thursday was the lowest total allowed to a Division I opponent since Dec. 2, 2016 when the Eagles defeated Saint Louis 60-46.
• With the Eagles' 9-1 record in the last 10, this marks the fifth consecutive season Morehead State has had at least one run of nine wins in a 10-game span. The best came in 2020-21 when the Eagles finished the season with 19 wins in their last 20 games. Other similar success runs included 13-1 in 2021-22, 11-1 in 2022-23 and 12-1 last season.
• In the past five seasons, MSU is 43-5 in January games.
•
Jerone Morton has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games, scoring a career high 18 versus UT Martin and 17 in two other games, including last Thursday versus WIU. He averaged 12.7 ppg in the last nine.
• Among all league players who qualify in the NCAA stat minimums, Kenny White, Jr. leads the OVC in field goal percentage at .472. Although he ranks third on the MSU team as
Anouar Mellouk (.556) and
Jerone Morton (.532) rank ahead but do not have enough FG attempts to qualify.
• Morehead State has scored 25+ points in the paint in 18 straight games. The opponent has scored more points in the paint than MSU in only three games this season.
• Kenny White, Jr. has scored 929 career collegiate points.
• In the past 11 games,
Tyler Brelsford has missed just two free throws. He is 31-of-33 at the FT stripe since the Dec. 7 game at Ohio.
• After having the program's lowest assist total in more than 25 years (2) against Western Illinois last Thursday, the Eagles responded by dishing out a season-high 21 assists versus Lindenwood.
• The Eagle program has nine 20+ win seasons in the last 15 seasons.
• Among the 11 Ohio Valley Conference programs for this season, MSU boasts the highest number of graduate students (4) and the highest number of sixth-year players (2).
