MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State men’s basketball team returns to Johnson Arena to host Green Bay on Monday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.
The Eagles (6-4) have lost three of four, but all three losses have come on the road at schools that rank in the RPI’s Top 80 – Pitt (19), Davidson (24), Indiana (80). On the season, they are 4-0 at home and 2-4 on the road, with wins at Northern Kentucky and Saint Louis.
Morehead State ranks 130 in the latest RPI, which is the second best in the OVC. Belmont ranks 116.
Junior forward DeJuan Marrero has recorded back-to-back double-doubles after recording his first career double-double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds, in the 60-52 win over Western Carolina. He followed that with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Davidson. His 13 rebounds against WCU were the most by an Eagle this season. He leads the team with 8.1 rebounds and 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. In seven of 10 games, he has led the Eagles in rebounds.
Green Bay enters the game with a 6-5 record, but has won six of their last eight games. They are 2-4 on the road and 2-0 against OVC teams, with wins at EIU, 81-72, and at SIUE, 87-69. Three of their five losses are at Power 5 schools, at Stanford, 93-89 in OT, at Georgia Tech, 107-77, and at Wisconsin, 84-79. They are averaging 84.8 points per game, which ranks 21st in the country. Senior guard Carrington Love leads the Phoenix with 19.6 points per game and 31 three-point field goals made, shooting 40 percent from deep.
Tonight’s contest will be the second ever meeting between Morehead State and Green Bay. They met last year on Dec. 17, 2014 at Green Bay, as the Eagles fell, 66-50. The Eagles shot just 33 percent and were led by Brent Arrington’s 13 points.
The contest will air live on the OVC Digital Network. It will also be broadcast on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with Jason Blanton calling all of the action. The radio network includes WIVY-96.3 FM and several affiliates throughout eastern Kentucky. A live audio stream can be found on MSUEagles.com and the Eagle Empire app.
SCORING DEFENSE
The Eagles enter the contest ranked 23rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 62.4 points per game. They gave up 81 points to Davidson, which is the second most this season. IU scored 92 on Dec. 5. They have allowed 72 points or less in their other seven games. After allowing 46 points in wins over Southern Miss, 61-46, and Saint Louis, 60-46, the Eagles were tied with Louisville for the nation’s best scoring defense, at 54.5 points per game. Opponents are shooting 43 percent.
HITTING THE GLASS
Despite consistently facing a height disadvantage, the Eagles have a +6.4 rebounding advantage on the season, which ranks 47th in the land. 40 percent of their rebounds are of the offensive variety, good for 14.6 per game, which ranks 18th in the country. They are averaging 13.5 second chance points per game. In the loss at Davidson, they had 16 second chance points to the Wildcats’ four. In six of their 10 games, they have outrebounded their opponent by nine or more rebounds, CCU (39-27), ISU (37-27), Marshall (45-27), So. Miss (43-24), SLU (34-25), WCU (41-32).
THE FLOOR GENERAL
Junior guard Corban Collins leads MSU with 11.8 points, 3.3 assists and 31.6 minutes per game. His plus/minus is +81, which is 5 points higher than the Eagles’ second best mark, Anthony Elechi at +76. He tied a career high with 22 points, and knocked down a career-high 4 three-pointers, in the 64-56 win over NKU. He played all 40 minutes in the win, which marked the second-most minutes he has ever played and the only time in his career that he has played every minute. In the loss at ISU, he missed the final 7 minutes of the game after fouling out.
ARRINGTON HEATING UP
After failing to score in double figures in four straight games, senior guard Brent Arrington has scored ten points or more in four of his last five contests. He failed to score in the loss at IU after getting in early foul trouble. The preseason All-OVC selection ranks second on the team with 8.6 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 15 steals and ranks second with seven blocks. He marked a season high with 15 points and 4 steals in the loss at Davidson.
GET LOW, GET LOW, GET LOW, GET LOW
On the season, the Eagles are outscoring their opponents in the paint, 312-250. They have been outscored in the paint three times this season, all losses, at Indiana, 46-24, at Pitt, 32-30, and at Davidson, 34-28.
GIVE ME THAT
The Eagles average 9.1 steals per game, which ranks 15th in the country. Five players have at least eight steals on the season, led by Arrington and Marrero’s 14. They had a season-high 15 steals against CCU and 13 in the win over Marshall. They are averaging 7.6 fast break points per game, while giving up just 4.5 fast break points.
A BALANCING ACT
Eight different players have played in every game and are averaging at least 3.9 points for the Eagles. They have had at least seven players score in every game. In seven of ten games this season, at least nine different players have scored.
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