Click for GAMEDAY

 Morgan State Notes |     Howard Notes |  Live Stream   |  MEAC Notes
 
GAME 19: HOWARD BISON  (10-10, 4-1 MEAC)
Saturday, January 30, 2016 • 4 p.m. • Hill Field House • Baltimore, Md.
Live Video Stream: Go to www.morganstatebears.com
Radio: 88.9 FM, WEAA
Series Record: Morgan State leads the series 61-42
Head Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (153-155, 10th yr) • HU– Kevin Nickleberry (57-120, 6th yr)
Website: MSU - www.morganstatebears.com; www.hubison.com

BEARS CONCLUDE THE MONTH AGAINST HOWARD ON SATURDAY
The Morgan State Bears play the first of two straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference games at home Saturday, Jan. 30 when the Howard Bison visit Hill Field House for a 4 p.m. tip. The game will be carried on WEAA, 88.9 FM (www.weaa.org). Howard will enter the contest attempting to build upon a 70-68 come-from-behind win against Bethune-Cookman, while the Bears last contest was two weeks ago when they fell at Bethune-Cookman 62-50. The Bears are looking to snap a 3-game losing skid.

PREVIEWING THE HOWARD
• Howard returned four starters from its 2014-15 squad that went 16-16, went 10-6 in MEAC play and tied for 4th place.
• Kevin Nickleberry (Virginia Wesleyan '86) is in his 6th season at the helm and has steadily turned the program around. The Bison went 16-16 last season, marking the program's highest win total since the 2001-02 season.
• The Wildcats were picked 10th in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• James "J-Bird" Daniel III (5-11,165) is leading the nation in scoring with 27.9 points per game. Daniels, the preseason pick for MEAC Player of the Year, is also among the nation's leaders in both free throws attempted (194) and made (167). Marcel Boyd is averaging 10.8 points and Marcel Boyd is averaging 9.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
• HU is shooting 41 percent from the floor as a team and has connected on 101-of-331 (.305) 3-pointers.
• James Daniel scored 24 points, Damon Collins added 14 and the go-ahead basket with 43 seconds to play and Howard rallied to beat Bethune-Cookman 70-68 at Burr Gymnasium. Howard trailed 40-32 at halftime.

THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against Howard for the 104th meeting in history between the two schools.
• MSU will square off against Howard for the 104th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup in Hill Field House on Dec. 7, 2013. Justin Black scored 17 points and led five teammates in double-figures as Morgan State won its conference home opener against Howard University 87-58.
• MSU's last game against HU was on Jan. 31, 2015 when James Carlton paced the Bison with a career-high 32 points and Howard posted a 64-48 victory over the Bears at The Burr Gymnasium. Cedric Blossom had 10.

IT'S OK TO BE A FOLLOWER 
MSU men's basketball fans can follow their favorite team, or any of the other MSU athletics programs on Twitter through the handle @MorganStBears.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 10th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last nine MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments.
 
BEWARE THE BEAR
Under the direction of Todd Bozeman, Morgan State has collected a couple of memorable wins against big-time opponents. The Bears have recorded historic wins against: Long Island (2009); Manhattan (2009); Arkansas (2009); DePaul (2008); and Maryland (2009).
 
HOME GROWN 
Morgan State has five (5) players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area, including two from Baltimore. Senior Donte Pretlow (Dunbar High) and redshirt junior Cliff Cornish (North County) are both from Baltimore. Senior Cedric Blossom (Montrose Christian) is from Columbia and senior Andrew Hampton is from Germantown (Seneca Valley), while freshman Anthony Tate (Takoma Academy) is from Fort Washington.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his eight seasons in Baltimore. The 2007-08 (12-1) and 2009-10 (11-1) squads finished with just a single loss, while the 2010-11 squad went 10-2. Bozeman has led the Bears to a 73-34 (.682) overall home record at Hill Field House.

HITTING LONG RANGE BUCKETS
This season, Morgan State is shooting 30 percent from long range (ranks No. 12 in MEAC), averaging 5.6 per game and 18.7 attempts per game.
• The Bears have had seven games of notching seven treys so far this season…all of which were on the road: at Virginia, Towson, High Point, Wagner, #17 Cincinnati and UMES.
• Andre Horne is shooting 39 percent (17-44), Kyle Thomas is shooting 31 percent (23-74) and Clive 'C.J.' Vaughan Jr. has connected on 12-of-50 3-pointers.
• Last season, Morgan State shot 28 percent (163-for-574) that ranked No. 10 in the MEAC. The Bears averaged 5.2 treys per game. Blake Bozeman led the Bears with 69 made 3-pointers (ranked No. 5 in MEAC).

BLOSSOM LEADING
Senior Cedric Blossom has scored double figures in nine of the 11 games he's played this season and is currently the Bears' leading scorer by averaging 14.3 ppg.The starting forward is shooting 50 percent from the field, has converted 33-of-54 (.611) free throws and is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. He enters Monday night's contest after leading the Bears with 18 points (9-10 FG) with seven rebounds in 33 minutes at Florida A&M. He scored a season-high 25-point performance against Manhattan in which he shot 7-for-13 from the field, 79 percent (11-14 FT) from the stripe and had seven boards. The Preseason All-MEAC Second Team selection is averaging 15.0 thru the last three games for the Bears. 
 
THE CARR IMPACT
The Bears frontcourt got an infusion of talent in the frontcourt with the addition of Phillip Carr. The 6-foot-8 forward Williston State transfer Phillip Carr is not only a force on the glass, but he's also bloomed into a scoring threat for the Bears. Carr is averaging 10.3 points and 7.2 rebounds (No. 6 in MEAC) in 18 starts. He posted a season-best 17 rebounds and finished with 14 points in the Bears home-opener win against Goldey-Beacom (Nov. 23). He has pulled down eight or more rebounds in eight games so far this season.  Carr scored a season-high 20 points (6-17 FG) with five boards against CSUN (Jan. 2), and at Bethune-Cookman he posted 14 points with nine boards and a steal in 36 minutes. 

MID-RANGE MONSTER
Cedric Blossom practically needs no assistance to get off his shot whenever he sees fit. The 6-foot-6, senior forward is leading the Bears with one of the best mid-range games in the league. Blossom used the offseason to work on his jumper, and it's certainly translating to the floor where he's improved from 32 percent shooting as a freshman… to 47 percent as a senior. 

GLASS CONTROL
The Bears have struggled to rebound through the first 18 games of the season.
• The Bears rank No. 11 in the MEAC in rebounding margin  (-5.3).
• Rank No. 9 in the MEAC in rebounding defense (22.3) and No. 6 rebounding offense rpg (12.1).
• The Bears have gone 3-2 when outrebounding their opponents, and are 0-13  when outrebounded.
• The Bears recorded a season-high 46 rebounds in a win against Goldey-Beacom.
• MSU posted a season-low 21 rebounds in their season-opener loss at Virginia.
• Sophomore Phillip Carr ranks No. 6 in the MEAC in rebounding by averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, including a season-high 17 on Nov. 23 against Goldey-Beacom.

EXTRA FRAMES
The Bears are 0-1 this season when playing in overtime. With the 83-80 loss to Hampton on Jan. 6, the Bears have lost its last two overtime contests, however they've won three of its last four matchups. Morgan State's last overtime victory was a 74-67 win against Marist on Nov. 25, 2013.

BEARS LOOKING FOR ADDED BENCH PRODUCTION
It's taken 18 games for the Bears bench production to go from fairly consistent numbers, to dwindling in the last few games.
• The Morgan State starters (Cedric Blossom, Donte Pretlow, Rasean Simpson, Phillip Carr and Martez Cameron) play at least 29 minutes, while the bench plays just around 15. 
• The Bears have until the start of MEAC Tournament play in March to find some help for the starters, or the problem could continue to cost the Bears.
• In the past three games, the bench has contributed an average of 10 points and recorded a season-low 5 points during the Bears loss Jan. 18 at Bethune-Cookman.
• Coach Todd Bozeman's bench poured in a season-high 36 points off the bench during a loss to Manhattan (Dec. 20).