By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media RelationsGAME NOTES (PDF) | ESPN+ | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | TICKETS
MOREHEAD, Ky. — Looking to make it back-to-back victories, the Morehead State men’s basketball team hosts SIUE on Thursday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET.
The Eagles (7-8/1-1 OVC) knocked off Tennessee Tech 83-72 Saturday. Morehead State is 6-2 on the court at Johnson Arena this season. The Cougars (4-11/1-1 OVC) are under new head coach Brian Barone, who was on the previous staff. Despite just four wins, one was at preseason league favorite Belmont last week.
Thursday’s game is Community Appreciation Day. Morehead residents can present their ID and get a bleacher seat for only $6.
The game will also air live on ESPN+ and WIVY 96.3 FM.
GAME NOTES
• Morehead State owns an 8-3 lead in the all-time series with SIUE, which began in 2009-10. The Eagles are 3-2 in the last five against the Cougars but the average margin of victory for either team in the last five matchups is just 5.4.
• The Eagles are the OVC’s best shot blocking team. MSU has 69 rejections, or 4.6 per game, to rank No. 1 in turn-backs this year. In home games, the Eagles block an average of 5.8 shots per outing.
• Freshman Tyzhaun Claude averaged 14.0 points and 11.0 rebounds versus Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech to earn his first-ever OVC Freshman of the Week accolade. Claude made it back-to-back Freshman of the Week honors for the Eagles as newcomer Ta’lon Cooper was selected the previous week.
• Senior guard Djimon Henson has been in the zone lately, scoring in double figures in five straight games and averaging 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in that span. He has managed to hit 61 percent (31-of-51) from the floor the Dec. 16 Marshall game as well. His personal record for consecutive double-figure scoring efforts is six during the 2017-18 year.
• Tyzhaun Claude’s 7.2 rebounds per game is the best rebounding average for a freshman in the OVC and ranks 11th among all freshmen in Division I currently.
• In the last three games, Ta’lon Cooperis shooting 72 percent (13-of-18) overall and 55 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
• Senior guard JordanWalker is the second player in program history with at least 1,200 career points, 200 assists, 100 steals and 175 three-pointers made, with the only other player accomplishing that being Ricky Minard.
• The Eagles have turned the ball over less than 10 times in each of the past four games, averaging only 8.0 mistakes per game in that span. Overall, MSU ranks first in the OVC in fewest turnovers per game (12.3) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).
• Sophomore guard Malik Riddle has averaged 13.3 points and shot 57 percent (15-of-26) from the floor in the last three games.
• Morehead State has hit at least one three-pointer in 420 consecutive games. The last time the Eagles failed to drain one from distance was in 2007 against Jacksonville State.