Morgan State Head Coach Todd Bozeman
MSU Gamenotes
Game 4
Morgan State (1-2, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Western Illinois (2-2, 0-0 Summit)
Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010 – 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Adventura Palace Resort – Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Television – n/a
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com; www.GoLeathernecks.com
The Opening Tip
Morgan State (No. 24 in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll), the 2010 MEAC champions, faces Western Illinois on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at the Adventura Palace Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. MSU 1-2 will look to bounce back from a 79-74 loss at LaSalle on Saturday, Nov. 20, and Western Illinois fell to 2-2 after a loss on the road at Missouri 66-61. The game will mark the first meeting between the teams. Both teams will attempt to snap a two-game losing skid.
The Last Time Out
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Aaric Murray had 20 points, 11 rebounds and a school-record nine blocks as La Salle held off Morgan State 79-74 on Saturday in the second game of the Cancun Challenge. Junior forward Kevin Thompson led Morgan State (1-2) and notched his third double-double of the season with a career-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
Western Illinois' Last Game
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Western Illinois made it a one possession game with 11 seconds left, but would come up short in its upset bid at 14th-ranked Missouri losing 66-61. The Leathernecks dropped to 2-1 while Missouri won its season debut in the opening game for both teams in the 2010 Cancun Challenge. Senior Matt Lander scored a game- and career-high 24 points, 14 coming in the second half.
Series History
Tuesday's game will be the first meeting between Morgan State and Western Illinois in men's basketball.
Frequent Flyer Miles
Morgan State starts the season off with a couple of non-conference games located nowhere near 1700 East Cold Spring Lane. The Bears travelled 2,293 miles to play Loyola Marymount, followed by a 323 mile trip to Providence and a relatively short trip 89 miles to LaSalle. The Bears also play in the Cancun Challenge where they will need a passport to fly 1,390 to Mexico on Nov. 23-24 …That's over 4,000 travel miles logged.
Thompson's Hospitality
♦ MSU junior Kevin Thompson is set to lead the Bears this season...the 6-foot-9 forward was the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was the league's most dominant post player during the 2009-10 season ... As a sophomore, Thompson averaged 12.7 points per game, 11.9 rebounds (4th best in the nation) and completed the season with 22 double-doubles (pts & rebs). He has started the 2010-11 season by notching three straight double-double performances.
Numbers Game
♦ Morgan State had an 11-game winning streak snapped by S.C. State on Feb. 15 and bounced back with a win against the MEAC's No. 2 ranked Delaware State on Feb. 17 ... The Bears have won 18 of its last 23 games.
♦Morgan State is ranked 24th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, marking its 1st week ranked among the top Mid-Majors in the country.
♦ Morgan State completed the 2009-10 season as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champs, it marked the Bears second consecutive MEAC Title and they also captured their third consecutive regular season title.
♦ DeWayne Jackson, the 2010 MEAC Rookie of the Year, had a career-high 31 point explosion against Loyola Marymount in the Bears season-opener, but was held to 6 points (0-5 3FG) at Providence and 7 points at LaSalle.
♦ Morgan State was picked to finish as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champs again this year … the Bears received 20 first place votes and totaled 476 points to garner the league's top position for the second year in a row.
♦ MSU newcomer Justin Black has been the most accurate from long-range thru the first three ballgames ... Black has connected on 6-of-13 triples (.462) … Black came off the bench and scored 20 points at LaSalle.
