MARTIN, Tenn. — The Morehead State men’s basketball team continues Ohio Valley Conference road action on Saturday at UT Martin. Tip-off from the Elam Center is set for approximately 7 p.m. ET. The contest will follow the Eagles and Skyhawks in women’s basketball at 5 p.m.
MSU is coming off a 70-57 victory on Thursday at Southeast Missouri. UTM dropped a 66-58 home decision to Eastern Kentucky the same night. The Eagles are 6-11 overall, 1-1 in conference play and 3-6 on the road. The Skyhawks are 8-6 overall, 0-1 in league action and 3-2 at home.
Morehead State owns a 32-13 all-time advantage against UT Martin in men’s hoops. The Eagles have won the last nine meetings with the Skyhawks, including an 82-75 decision last year at Johnson Arena. Angelo Warner paced MSU with 25 points in that match-up with UTM.
UT Martin will webcast the game live and free of charge on OVCDigitalNetwork.com. The contest will also be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network, with Chuck Mraz calling the play-by-play and Jason Blanton serving as the analyst. The radio network includes WIVY-96.3 FM in Morehead, WCBJ-103.7 in Campton, WLGC-1520 AM in Ashland/Greenup, MSUEagles.com (computers), m.Morehead.EZStream.com (mobile devices) and the Eagle Empire App.
Ten notes heading into the contest:
DOING IT SHORT-HANDED
Morehead State posted a 70-57 win on Thursday at Southeast Missouri, despite using just eight players (and dressing 10). Senior Angelo Warner, senior Jalen Courtney, junior Lyonell Gaines and freshman Marquel Willis all missed the game due to injury.
THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE BOYS
Seniors Karam Mashour and Billy Reader tallied their first Division I double-doubles at Southeast Missouri. Mashour connected on 7-of-14 from the field en route to career highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Reader knocked down 6-of-13 from the floor on his way to 12 points and a career-best 11 rebounds.
A BAHAMAS FLASHBACK?
Karam Mashour recorded his best performance in a regular-season collegiate game on Thursday. The forward collected 69 points (17.3 ppg) and 79 rebounds (19.8 rpg) in four exhibition contests this year, including a three-game trip to the Bahamas. He sat out in 2012-13 as a transfer and only played five minutes in 2013-14 due to injury.
BILLY BEGINS TO STEP UP
Billy Reader has upped his scoring average from 6.1 to 7.6 and rebounding mark from 4.4 to 5.4 over the past four tilts. The center tallied a season-best 20 points on Dec. 19 vs. Northern Kentucky and career-high 11 rebounds on Thursday at Southeast Missouri.
THE ONLY FOURTH-YEAR PLAYER
Senior Angelo Warner, the only fourth-year player at Morehead State, has tallied 1,330 points (11.8 pg) and 3,117 minutes (27.6 pg) in 113 collegiate games. The guard has reached 10 points 71 times and 20 points on 15 occasions. He needs just one more point to move into 17th in school history.
WHEN I PASS, YOU SHOULD SCORE
Senior Kareem Storey ranks fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference with 4.8 assists per game and sixth with 1.8 assists-per-turnover. The guard has reached the five-assist plateau in 22 of 46 games at Morehead State. He is averaging 6.9 points this season on 81 percent (30-of-37) from the foul line.
A FRESHMAN WHO CAN PLAY
Marquel Willis is averaging 6.1 points on 40 percent (25-of-62) from the field and 81 percent (33-of-41) from the free-throw stripe. His scoring average is the best by a Morehead State true freshman since Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried finished with 10.5 per outing in 2007-08.
REBOUNDING IS WHAT WE DO
Morehead State has led the Ohio Valley Conference in rebounding margin six straight seasons (2008-14), paced the league in rebounds five of the last six years and had the conference’s top individual four of the past six seasons. MSU is currently second in the OVC in rebounding margin (+4.7) and tied for second in boards per game (36.8).
WHAT WOULD A VICTORY DO?
A victory on Saturday would give Morehead State its fourth Ohio Valley Conference road sweep in three seasons under Head Coach Sean Woods. The Eagles turned in the league’s best road record at 9-7 last season, but are just 3-6 this year.
A STREAK TO BE PROUD OF
Morehead State has finished Ohio Valley Conference play .500-or-better in each of the last seven seasons. MSU’s last sub-.500 OVC campaign came in 2006-07. The Eagles own a 19-15 record (.559) in league contests under Head Coach Sean Woods.
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