The Bears tune-up for Friday matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers.
MSU Gamenotes
MSU Players Talk about the Tournament
Game 37
No.15 seed Morgan State (27-9, 15-1 MEAC) vs. No. 2 West Virginia
Friday, March 19, 2010 – 12:15 p.m. (ET)
BCSM Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
Television – CBS
Radio – WEAA, 88.9 FM
The Opening Tip
Morgan State (27-9), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champs, was made the 15th seed in the East Region and will play No. 2 West Virginia (27-6) on Friday, March 19 in Buffalo, N.Y. Tip time will be at 12:15 p.m. EST, followed by the No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Missouri contest which will begin at 2:35 p.m., EST.
The No. 15 seeded Bears will tip off against the No. 2 seeded West Virginia Friday at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo. The entire 65-team field was announced on CBS, which will televise Morgan State's game live on Friday. The game will also be broadcast by WEAA, 88.9 FM.
Series History – No. 2 West Virginia
Friday's game will be the second meeting between Morgan State and West Virginia in men's basketball. the Mountaineers holding a 1-0 series lead, following a 108-80 victory on Dec. 22, 1995 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The Mountaineers feature senior forward Da'Sean Butler (17.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg.), an All- Big East First Team selection. West Virginia also has sophomore forward Kevin Jones (13.5 ppg., 7.1 rpg.), a third-team All-Big East selection. The Big East title is West Virginia's first conference tournament victory since claiming the Atlantic 10 Championship on its home floor in 1984.n.
Holming In
♦ Morgan State senior guard Reggie Holmes will enter Friday's contest averaging 21.9 points per game, including six 30 point outings thru 36 games. He led the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in scoring and ranks in the NCAA Top 10 (ranked No. 10).
Thompson's Hospitality
♦ Morgan State forward Kevin Thompson was named to the Freshmen Mid-Major All-America team by Collegeinsider.com at the end of the last season. Thompson posted his 22nd double-double of the season (18 pts/10 rebs) and Morgan State claimed its second consecutive NCAA tournament berth by beating South Carolina State 68-61 on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game in Winston-Salem, NC. ... Thompson is among the nation's leaders in rebounds ... he ranks No. 4 (11.9 rpg) and has posted 25 rebounds in a game which is an NCAA single-game high for this season.
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 20 of its last 22 games.
♦Morgan State is ranked 18th in the CollegeInsider. com Mid-Major Poll, marking its 7th week ranked among the top Mid-Majors in the country.
♦MSU captured its third consecutive regular season title and its second consecutive conference title...The last MSU team to win back-to-back MEAC championships was the Lady Bears Volleyball team when they became MEAC Champs in 1997 and 1998.
♦ In 7 1/2 years as a Division I head coach, at the University of California and Morgan State, Todd Bozeman has been in five NCAA tournaments and an NIT.
♦ Reggie Holmes has had an exemplary career for the Bears … The senior surpassed also a milestone in the history of Morgan State men's basketball … He poured in a career-high 36 points in the regular season finale against Coppin State and as a result he passed Marvin Webster as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,994 career points ... Webster scored 1,990 from 1971-75 and had held the record for 35 years … Holmes currently has 2,049 career points.
♦ Prior to the S.C. State loss, MSU had won 12 straight regular season conference games since last year.
♦ With the win against No. 3 seed South Carolina State in the MEAC title game last Saturday, Todd Bozeman improved to 10-2 record in the MEAC Tournament.
♦ As a result of clinching the MEAC regular season conference championship, the Bears are guaranteed to play in the postseason for the third straight year.
♦ Morgan State is currently on a 7-game winning streak and has won 19 of their last 21 games as they prepare to make their second consecutive appearance in the 'Big Dance'
♦ Morgan State is 22-4 when scoring 70 or more points, with losses coming at Louisville (81-90), Appalachian State in overtime (92-93) and a tough loss at Robert Morris (78-75).
♦ The final 3 minutes has been critical in the Bears' success this season… Morgan State is 23-2 this season when leading with 3 minutes to go; and with the win against No. 5 Hampton on Friday night, the Bears improved to 4-7 when trailing with 3 minutes left.
♦ Morgan State swept the top individual awards for the season in the MEAC. Reggie Holmes was named Player of the Year , Kevin Thompson earned Defensive Player of the Year and freshman DeWayne Jackson was selected as Rookie of the Year. Todd Bozeman also was named Coach of the Year for the third straight season.
