By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media RelationsGAME NOTES (PDF) | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. — Looking to repeat history, Morehead State men’s basketball heads to the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., this week for the OVC Tournament – an event they swept through and claimed the ultimate championship trophy last season.
The Eagles are the No. 3 seed and will get a bye into the quarterfinals where they’ll face either No. 6 Austin Peay or No. 7 Tennessee Tech (the winner of that game, scheduled for Wednesday) at 10 p.m. ET Thursday night. If the Eagles advance they’ll get a rematch of last year’s title game with No. 2 Belmont at 10:30 p.m. Friday.
The games can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck Mraz and Tom Lewis. They are also available on MSUEagles.com as well as network partner WGOH 100.9 FM/1370 AM. The Thursday game will be on ESPN+, with the Friday matchup set for ESPNU.
2021-22 RECORDS
MOR: 21-10 (13-5 OVC) | APSU: 12-16 (8-10 OVC) | TTU: 10-20 (7-10 OVC)
SERIES RECORDRecord vs. APSU: 59-56First Meeting: 1/11/64 MSU won 85-76 at MSULast Meeting: 2/5/22 MSU won 77-52 at MSUStreak: MSU, 3 gamesRecord in Clarksville, Tenn.: 18-38Record in Morehead: 38-16Neutral Record: 3-2
Record vs. TTU: 91-67
First Meeting: 1/7/50 MOR won 59-57 at TTU
Last Meeting: 2/3/22 MSU won 75-68 at MSU
Streak: MSU, 4 games
Record in Cookeville, Tenn.: 27-47
Record in Morehead: 56-17
Neutral Record: 8-3
NOTABLE• Morehead State will look to claim its second straight OVC Tournament title this week, after wining three games in succession last March. The Eagles were a combined 4-0 against possible quarterfinal opponents Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech and split the season series with potential semifinal foe Belmont. Morehead State has a 4-2 all-time record in the Ford Center in OVC Tournament games.
• Morehead State boasted two First-Team All-OVC members for just the third time in program history (since 1980-81 when OVC split teams into first, second, ect.) and first time since 2010-11. Johni Broome and Ta’Lon Cooper each garnered first-team honors. For Broome, its the second straight year he is a First-Team All-OVC winner
• Johni Broome is the 2021-22 OVC Defensive Player of the Year. He ratcheted up his defensive dominance this year, blocking a program-record 123 shots (tied for third in OVC history and ranking third in DI) while leading the conference and ranking ninth in DI in rebounds (first in the league in defensive rebounds by a more-than 2.0 average at 7.3).
• Johni Broome blocked more shots (123) by himself than eight other OVC schools combined as a team (only UT Martin had more than 123), and he blocked more than the next two players behind him on the OVC stat chart combined. In OVC play, his 82 blocks WERE more than all other nine OVC teams had as a unit (UTM closest at 78).
• Johni Broome is just the seventh player in program history to record 500+ points and 300+ rebounds in the same season (Kenneth Faried did it twice).
• Johni Broome’s 22 double-doubles ranks fourth in the nation. He has the most double-doubles for an Eagle since the program record of 28 by Kenneth Faried in 2010-11 and the most for an OVC player since Austin Peay’s Chris Horton (25) in 2015-16.
• Ta’Lon Cooper has handed out 185 assists this season, which ranks third in Division I in total assists. His season total is the fourth highest in program history. Cooper’s career assist total stands at 391, which ranks him fifth in program history as only four Eagles have ever registered 400+ assists (Marquis Sykes, Ricky Minard, Howard Wallen and Demonte Harper). Only one MSU player (Nikola Stojakovic) has ever recorded 200+ assists in a single-season (204).
• Tray Hollowell’s three-point streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 day at SIUE. He had hit a three-pointer in 36 consecutive games since last year. Still, Hollowell’s 80 three-pointers this year is the fourth best single-season total in program history, just two short of Chez Marks’ 82 in 2002-03. He has hit 266 career three-pointers at Wofford and MSU.
• After reaching double figures in just three previous games this year, Jaylon Hall finished the regular season scoring 21, 14 and 14 points (respectively) in the final three games. He also hit 59 percent from the floor (17-of-29) and 58 percent (11-of-19) from three-ball range heading into the postseason.
• Jake Wolfe was 12-of-17 (.706) from the field over the last five games and 19-of-29 (.655) over the previous seven games. That raised his season efficiency to .533.
• Although he played a reserve role, LJ Bryan provided a major boost to the Eagles. He finished the regular season shooting 68 percent (41-of-60), which would rank second all-time in program history if he had enough shots to qualify.