Eagles Take Center Stage: Men’s Basketball Set for National TV Showdown at Eastern Illinois

GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Morehead State Men’s Basketball is set to be featured on a national platform once more on Thursday night as the Eagles take on Eastern Illinois in the OVC ESPNU game of the week. The game begins at 9 p.m. ET from Charleston, Ill.

Lowell Galindo and Mark Adams will provide commentary on ESPNU. MSU has appeared on ESPNU twice in the previous season’s regular season, with both encounters against SIUE (each team triumphed on its home court). The Eagles have secured victories on ESPNU for four consecutive seasons.

Morehead State has achieved seven consecutive wins over Eastern Illinois and has triumphed in the last four encounters held in Charleston. The Eagles have won nine out of the last ten in this rivalry and 15 of the last 19 against the Panthers. In Morehead State’s seven-game winning streak against EIU, the Eagles have restricted EIU to merely 54.0 points per game, with only once exceeding the 60-point mark.

Eastern Illinois has suffered four consecutive losses, placing them at the bottom of the OVC standings. Naykel Shelton’s average of 16.1 points leads EIU, while Kooper Jacobi dominates the conference in rebounding with an average of 9.5 per game.

The contest can also be listened to on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM flagship station along with WGOH in Grayson, Ky.) featuring Chuck Mraz and Matt Schabert. It is also accessible at MSUEagles.com.

2024-25 RECORDS

MSU: 12-7, 7-1 OVC | EIU: 5-13, 1-6 OVC

THE SERIES

Record vs. EIU: 23-26

First Encounter: 12/14/81 MSU won 79-77 at MSU

Last Encounter: 2/10/24 MSU won 69-57 at MSU

Streak: MSU, 7 games

Record vs. EIU in Charleston, Ill.: 9-15

Record vs. EIU in Morehead: 14-11

Neutral Record: 0-0

NOTABLE

• Morehead State has secured victory in 36 consecutive games when their opponent scores 60 points or less.

• Morehead State holds a record of 9-1 in their last 10 games. In the Eagles’ most recent four games – all wins – MSU has permitted only 55.0 points per game and limited the opponents to a shooting percentage of just 21 from three-point range. Furthermore, the last four opponents have collectively achieved merely 22 assists against the Eagle defense.

• The 47 points allowed to Western Illinois on Thursday marked the lowest total permitted to a Division I opponent since Dec. 2, 2016, when the Eagles won against Saint Louis 60-46.

• With the Eagles’ 9-1 record in the past 10 games, this signifies the fifth straight season Morehead State has managed at least one run of nine wins in a span of 10 games. The most impressive run was in 2020-21 when the Eagles ended the season with 19 wins in their last 20 games. Other notable runs include 13-1 in 2021-22, 11-1 in 2022-23, and 12-1 last season.

• Over the previous five seasons, MSU has a record of 43-5 in January games.

• Jerone Morton has recorded double figures in scoring in eight of the last nine contests, achieving a career-high of 18 against UT Martin and 17 in two other occurrences, including last Thursday against WIU. He averages 12.7 ppg over the last nine games.

• Among all league athletes that qualify under the NCAA statistical minimums, Kenny White, Jr. leads the OVC in field goal percentage at .472. Although he ranks third on the MSU squad, Anouar Mellouk (.556) and Jerone Morton (.532) are ahead but do not have sufficient FG attempts to be eligible for the rankings.

• Morehead State has netted 25 or more points in the paint for 18 consecutive games. The opponent has outscored MSU in the paint in only three contests this season.

• Kenny White, Jr. has amassed 929 career collegiate points.

• Over the last 11 matchups, Tyler Brelsford has missed only two free throws, going 31-of-33 at the FT line since the game on Dec. 7 at Ohio.

• After recording the program’s lowest assist total in over 25 years (2) against Western Illinois last Thursday, the Eagles bounced back by tallying a season-high 21 assists against Lindenwood.

• The Eagle program has celebrated nine seasons with 20 or more wins in the last 15 years.

• Among the 11 programs in the Ohio Valley Conference for this season, MSU takes pride in having the highest amount of graduate students (4) and the highest number of sixth-year players (2).