GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE AUDIO, LIVE VIDEO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State's men's basketball team will look to keep up its winning ways and beat the winter weather too on Saturday as MSU hosts Eastern Illinois. The game time has been adjusted to 12:30 p.m. ET to attempt to get ahead of a forecasted winter storm.
The game will air on ESPN+ with Jared Stacy and
Dean Hardin and the Eagle Sports Radio Network. Listen to Chuck Mraz and
Drew Barnette on WIVY-96.3 FM (flagship station), on WMST 106.9 FM, WPKE 98.1 in Pikeville, WPRT 104.5 in Prestonsburg or on MSUEagles.com.
Eastern Illinois still leads the all-time series over MSU 27-24, but the Eagles have had the upperhand lately. Since 2020-21, MSU has won eight of the last 10, with the Panthers' last win coming last year at Johnson Arena (67-62). Prior to, MSU had won eight straight over EIU. MSU has also won 16 of the previous 20 meetings since 2010-11.
EIU has been one of the hottest teams as of late, winning five of its last six and sitting just a game behind MSU in in the OVC race at 5-4. The Panthers are 9-11 overall.
2025-26 RECORDS
MSU: 10-10, 6-3 OVC | EIU: 9-11, 5-4 OVC
THE SERIES
Record vs. EIU: 24-27
First Meeting: 12/14/81 MSU won 79-77 at MSU
Last Meeting: 2/22/25 EIU won 67-62 at MSU
Streak: EIU, W1
Record vs. EIU in Charleston, Ill.: 10-15
Record vs. EIU in Morehead: 14-12
Neutral Record: 0-0
LAST 5 GAMES
2/22/23 Charleston, Ill. W 69-53
1/11/24 Charleston, Ill W 78-52
2/10/24 MOREHEAD, KY. W 69-57
1/23/25 Charleston, Ill. W 73-66
2/22/25 MOREHEAD, KY. L 67-62
NOTABLE
• With Thursday's 71-66 win over Western Illinois, Morehead State is now 5-0 in games decided by five points or less this year and 9-2 in those scenarios under head coach
Jonathan Mattox.
• MSU's sweet spot has been when it scores 70-79 points. The Eagles own a 5-1 mark when they hit for 70-79 points, and all five wins in that situation have been Ohio Valley Conference victories.
• Morehead State is 67-12 at home since the 2020-21 season, winning 85 percent of the time in Johnson Arena. In that span, that ranks No. 1 in the league for home winning percenage.
• Morehead State has won 52 straight games when it shoots at least 50 percent from the floor. The last team to defeat the Eagles when it made 50 percent or higher was Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 7, 2020 (MSU hit 67 percent but still lost that game).
• Morehead State has now hit at least one three-pointer in 200 straight games. The last time MSU did not hit a triple was Jan. 16, 2020 at Tennessee State.
• The Eagles rank No. 1 in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.20.
• Morehead State's .514 effective field goal percentage ranks second in the OVC, just slightly behind Lindenwood's .517. It gives more weight to three-pointers made, adjusting a team's overall FG percentage.
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Jon Carroll grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds vs. Western Illinois, the highest for an Eagle since Riley Minix in 2023 - also vs. Western Illinois. Carroll had eight offensive boards Thursday and ranks first in the conference with 3.4 offensive rebounds per game. He ranks second overall in the OVC with 158 total rebounds.
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Davion Cunningham averaged 20.0 points in the last four, including a season-high 35 against Southeast Missouri on Jan. 10, marking the single-game high for points for any OVC player this season.
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Chase Dawson and
Davion Cunningham have both now eclipsed 800 career collegiate points. Dawson (805) Cunningham (800) each reached or exceeded the 800 threshold vs. Western Illinois Jan. 22.
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George Marshall, Jr., now has 954 career points in college. He's scored 488 in his three seasons at MSU.
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George Marshall, Jr., has scored in double figures in nine of the last 11 games.
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Anouar Mellouk averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the last two games - registering his first double-double (12 pts, 10 rbs) at Tennessee Tech Jan. 17.
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Tamaury Releford was a perfect 6-of-6 on field goals vs. Western Illinois and is hitting a team-high 66 percent from the floor this year (which would lead the OVC if he had enough attempts).
• Morehead State's non-starters average 32.2 points per game, second in the OVC. In eight games this year, MSU's bench production has been 10+ points betteer than the opponent's bench scoring.
• Morehead State's +19 rebound margin against Western Illinois Jan. 22 was the highest against a D1 opponent since Jan. 11, 2025 when MSU topped SEMO by 23 boards.
• MSU has scored 20+ points in the paint in all 20 games and has 12 games where it scored 30+ in the paint.
• MSU has five wins this year where it trailed at halftime. That's the most wins trailing after 20 minutes in the past six seasons.
• In the past five years, MSU is an amazing 71-3 when it holds a lead with a minute left in the game.
• January has been Morehead State's most successful month. In the past six seasons, the Eagles are 40-10 in the first month of the new year.
