By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
GAME NOTES (PDF) | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
MOREHEAD, Ky. — In a final tune up before the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament next week, Morehead State Men’s Hoops will wrap up the regular season at SIUE Saturday. Tip off is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Morehead State has a commanding 13-4 lead in the all-time series with SIUE, including two straight wins. The Eagles are 4-2 all-time in games played in Edwardsville.
The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck Mraz and Drew Barnette. It’s also available on MSUEagles.com as well as network partner WGOH 100.9 FM/1370 AM. ESPN+ will have the game live as well.
2021-22 RECORDS
MOR: 21-9 (13-4 OVC) | SIUE: 10-20 (4-13 OVC)
SERIES RECORDRecord vs. SIUE: 13-4First Meeting: 1/19/10 MSU won 66-46 at MSULast Meeting: 1/22/22 MSU won 77-74 at MSUStreak: MSU, 2 gamesRecord in Edwardsville, Ill.: 4-2Record in Morehead: 8-2Neutral Record: 1-0
NOTABLE• Morehead State boasts one current member of the collegiate 1,000-point club (Tray Hollowell 1,118 – 799 at Wofford) with three more Eagles within shot of 1,000 – Skyelar Potter has 932 (262 at Wright State), Jaylon Hall is at 918 (760 at Wright State) and Johni Broomeis already at 911 in less than two years at MSU.
• Morehead State has secured at least a top 3 seeding for the OVC Tournament and at least a bye into the quarterfinals. The Eagles still have a mathematical shot at No. 2. If MSU wins versus SIUE and Belmont loses to Tennessee State, the Eagles will earn No. 2 based on a tiebreaker involving MSU’s and Belmont’s head to head records vs. TSU. Otherwise, MSU will be No. 3 and play first vs. the winner of the 6-7 game on March 3 at 10 p.m. ET.
• Johni Broome is the Morehead State single-season record holder for blocked shots, now with 121. He surpassed Ron Nicholson’s mark of 115, set 50 years ago in 1971-72. He ranks third in the nation in total blocks and blocks per game. His 121 are the most for an OVC player since Tennessee Tech’s Lorenzo Coleman swatted away 123 in 1994-95.
• Johni Broome needs just one more point to reach 500 for the season. If he does, he’ll become 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 21 double-doubles ranks third 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 182 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 387, 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 string has climbed to 36 straight games. Hollowell is attempting to become the first MSU player in program history to hit at least one three-pointer in every game he appears in during a single season. 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.
• Jaylon Hall has averaged 17.5 points in his last two games. He erupted for a season (and career) high 21 points against SEMO. His six three-pointers made is the high-water mark for a single game for an Eagle this season.
• LJ Bryan scored a season-high 10 points at Eastern Illinois, marking just his fourth career double-digit scoring output at MSU.
• Morehead State’s 36-point margin of victory at Eastern Illinois tied for the largest ever win over the Panthers, tying the 75-39 win in 2012-13, and was the largest victory margin ever at EIU. The Eagles also won at EIU in back to back seasons for the first time ever.