Game 1
Morgan State (0-0, 0-0 MEAC) at Xavier (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 – 7 p.m. (ET)
Cintas Center – Cincinnati, Ohio
Television – FOX Sports Ohio (Check your local cable provider)
Live Stats click here
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com; www.GoXavier.com
The Opening Tip
Morgan State opens the 2011-12 season when they face Xavier on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in Cintas Center. The game will be broadcast live by Fox Sports Ohio. The game will mark the third meeting between the teams.
The Last Time Out
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (March 12, 2011) -- Hampton got some timely baskets down the stretch to help the Pirates beat the Morgan State 60-55 in the MEAC Tournament Championship game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Sophomore forward
DeWayne Jackson led Morgan State (17-14) with 25 points and junior forward
Kevin Thompson posted eight points and brought down 15 rebounds.
Xavier's Last Game
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Sixth-seeded Xavier fell 66-55 to eleventh-seeded Marquette in a second round matchup in the NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Junior Kenny Frease scored 12 points and hauled in five rebounds and senior Danté Jackson finished with 10 points. Senior Jamel McLean led the Musketeers with nine rebounds.
Series History
♦ Friday's game will be the third meeting between Morgan State and Xavier in men's basketball.
♦ Xavier defeated the Bears 78-59 on December 30, 1995 and on November 23, 1998 the Musketeers won 100-67.
♦ The Musketeers hold a 15-0 series record against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
♦ Xavier is ranked 14th in the Associated Press Poll as of October 28, 2011.
Thompson's Hospitality
♦
Kevin Thompson, who was named NABC First-Team All District and Second-Team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season, averaged 13.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and was named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team.
♦ As a junior, Thompson completed the season with 13 double-doubles (35 for his career) and continued to be one of the most dominant post players in the league.
♦ He earned the MEAC's Defensive Player of the Year during his sophomore season when he was selected to the 2010 MEAC First-Team and was also the MVP of the MEAC Tournament.
Jackson Returns
♦ Junior
DeWayne Jackson was named to the CollegeHoops.net preseason all-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Team (MEAC) basketball team.
♦ Jackson, a 6-foot-8 swingman, finished the 2010-11 season as a First Team All-MEAC selection and was also selected to the NABC All-District Second Team.
♦ The Bowie product led the team in scoring and ranked 8
th in the MEAC with 14.5 points per game average and ranked 9
th in steals (1.4 spg).
♦ Jackson also shot 73.8 percent from the free throw line and recorded 22 blocked shots.
♦ He scored a career-high 31 points and connected on 7-of-11 3-pointers at Loyola Marymount (Nov. 11, 2010) and posted a game-high 25 points vs. Hampton (March 12, 2011) in the MEAC Championship and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.
♦ Jackson has scored double-figures 43 times during his career.
Returning Production Numbers
Morgan State returns 84 percent of its scoring, 68 percent of its rebounding and 80 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Thompson - .520), three-point percentage (
Larry Bastfield - .395), free throw percentage (
Aric Brooks - .792), rebounding (Thompson – 9.1), blocked shots (Thompson – 1.2) and minutes played (Brooks – 32.1) are back in 2011-12. Five players who started at least 15 games a year ago also return – Bastfield (31), Brooks (27), Jackson (26), Thompson (17) and
Ameer Ali (16).
Numbers Game
♦ MSU recorded several non-conference victories last year including wins over Loyola Marymount University (81-79), Maryland Baltimore County (75-62), Western Illinois (72-53), Robert Morris (67-66), and VMI (67-62).
♦ The Bears will look to rebound from last year's fourth place MEAC finish and reclaim the conference title for the fourth time in five years.
♦ Morgan State was selected to win the MEAC Regular Season Title, edging out last year's MEAC Tournament Champion Hampton. The Bears received eight (8) first place votes and a totaled 616 points to take hold of the conference's top spot going into the season.
Next Up
♦ The Bears will host the Murray State Racers at Hill Field House on Monday, November 14th.
