Morgan State Notes |
Houston Notes |
Purchase Tickets |
ESPN3 |
GAMEDAYGuide |
Facebook.com/MorganStateBears |
@MorganStBears
Game 1
Opponent: Houston Cougars (0-0)
Date: Friday, Nov. 11, 2016
Site: Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479)
Game Time: 8:04 p.m. (ET)
Internet Broadcast: ESPN3
Talent: Dave Raymond (Play by Play) | Rich Zvosec (Color Analyst)
Radio Stream: www.kprcradio.iheart.com
MSU Coach: Todd Bozeman (159-162 - 11th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.UHCougars.com
SETTING THE STAGE
The Morgan State Bears open the 2016-17 campaign on the road against the Houston Cougars on Friday, Nov. 11th. It will mark the second basketball meeting between the teams. Tip-off at Hofheinz Pavilion is scheduled for 8:04 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 via the website and the Watch ESPN App. . The game will also be radio broadcast by 950 AM - KPRC.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Houston welcomed back eight letterwinners and three starters, from a squad that posted a 22-10 overall record, and finished T-3rd place with a 12-6 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars lost to Tulane (L, 72-69) in the conference quarterfinals and fell in the NIT first round to Georgia Tech (L, 81-62).
• Houston is ranked No. 4 (75 pts) in the American Conference's preseason coaches' poll. Cincinnati (95 pts) edged UConn (94 pts) as the preseason favorite in the balloting of the coaches. SMU was picked No. 3 with 76 points.
• Kelvin Sampson enters his third season as the Cougars head men's basketball coach where he holds a 35-29 record. He currently holds a 535-299 career record in his 27th year as a head coach.
• Damyean Dotson, a 2015-16 All-Conference Honorable Mention, returns to the Cougars for his senior season. The 6-5, 210 pound guard averaged 13.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg a season ago. Dotson will be joined by returning starters Galen Robinson, Jr. (7.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg; Conference All-Rookie Team selection) and Kyle Meyer (2.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg).
THE SERIES
• Friday marks the second meeting in the series. The Cougars hold a 1-0 advantage in the series vs. MSU.
• In their last meeting, the Cougars posted a 72-57 win over Morgan State in the program's home opener inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Nov. 23, 2014. Blake Bozeman led the Bears with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while Donte Pretlow added 10 rebounds. The game marked the first meeting between the schools in basketball.
NEXT UP
The Bears will host the Towson Tigers in a cross-town matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hill Field House.
AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 11th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 10 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 three players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Returning senior forward Kyle Thomas is from Owings Mills, Md. and graduated from Milford Mill Academy. Newcomer Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Tiwian Kendley played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS and is a product of Greenbelt, Md.
COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his 10 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 77-36 (.681) overall home record at Hill Field House.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TO TEST YOUNG BEARS
The year will open with a matchup at Houston Nov. 11, followed by three home contests against Towson Nov. 15, Wilmington Nov. 17 and Campbell Nov. 19. The Bears then hit the road for games at Brown Nov. 23 and Bowling Green Nov. 26, before returning to Hill Field House to host High Point Nov. 28. The Bears open the month of December with a date at Rutgers Dec. 3, before hosting a pair of contests against Manhattan Dec. 6 and Wagner Dec. 10. The remaining three non-conference games on the schedule will take place at Penn State Nov. 21, at Loyola Marymount Dec. 27 and at California State, Northridge Dec. 29.
BEARS' SUMMER TOUR IN CANADA
The 2016-17 men's basketball season began a bit earlier than usual, as Morgan State planned a trip to Canada in August. The 7-day trip was scheduled from August 13 and ran through August 20. In that span, the Bears will played five games against outside competition. While in Canada, the Bears played games in Montreal and Ottawa. The trip marked Morgan State's sixth foreign tour since 1974. Previously, the Bears have traveled internationally to Brazil (1974), Colombia (1975), Canada, Cancun, Windsor, Canada (2010), Mexico (2011) and Nassau, Bahamas (2012).
"The tour provides returning players that might not have played a lot, to gain some valuable experience against international competition," said Todd Bozeman, who is entering his 11th season as Morgan State's head coach. "The tour allows you 10 days to practice, which is invaluable! It's a tremendous opportunity to get started early and exposes the young people to another country and culture."
BOZEMAN's RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their second season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Ellerbe, Larry Stewart, and Hans Desir.
• Ellerbe spent four years at Virginia, starting in 1990. He worked under Jeff Jones, now coach at Old Dominion. He was also the rst African-American Head Coach at Loyola University, Maryland and The University of Michigan.
• Stewart was the Associate Head Coach for the Bowie State men's basketball team where he spent six seasons. He played with the NBA's Bullets, Vancouver Grizzlies and Seattle Super Sonics until 1997. His brother, Stephen, is an assistant coach at Coppin State.
• Desir, a Miami native, joins the Bears staff with over 10 years of coaching experience. he was previously lead assistant coach for J.T. Burton at Motlow College.
WELCOME TO EAST COLD SPRING LANE
MSU's incoming class features four freshmen and three transfers. The incoming freshmen include 6-foot-4 guard Stanley Davis (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy), 6-foot-8 forward Azariah Sykes (Midlothian, Va./Millwood HS), 6-foot-7 David Syfax (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) and 6-foot-10 center Tyjahi Byers (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS). In addition, MSU welcomes 6-foot-2 guard Isiah Graves (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City HS), who joins the Bears as a transfer from Southern C.C., Lamar C.C. transfer Tiwian Kendley (Harlem, N.Y./Roosevelt HS) and Alex Ennis (Ocean, N.J.), a 6-foot-10 transfer from Independence C.C.
LAST TIME OUT
Morgan State 81, Hampton 83 • March 9, 2016 • The Scope Arena • Norfolk, Va.
• Reginald Johnson, Jr. scored a team-high 19 points and dished out a career-high 13 assists to lead Hampton University to an 83-81 win over Morgan State University in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament at the Scope.
• Hampton controlled the game throughout by using a balanced attack and a dominating effort in the paint. Johnson was the conductor as he dealt out nine assists in the first half while also scoring seven points as the Pirates led 43-38 at the half.
• Morgan State (9-22), the Number 9 seed, which had advanced following a win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday, had trailed by 11 at one point before closing the gap on the scoring of veterans Donte Pretlow and Cedric Blossom, who combined for 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field.
• The Bears were able to get a quick second half run over the first 2:13 of the second half to tie the game at 45.
• The Pirates outmuscled the shorter Bears by holding a 56-36 advantage in the paint.
• Morgan drew within 83-78 on a three from Phillip Carr with 1:28 remaining. But what was an empty possession for Hampton after that turned into two to three chances late with them collecting crucial offensive rebounds, which sealed the deal for the Pirates.
• Pretlow led all scorers with a career-high 27, Blossom chipped in with 19, Phillip had 10 and Simpson, seven points and 10 rebounds.
LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory of the 2015-16 season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. Prior to the win against Howard, the Bears' previous largest margin of victories had been by five (5) points. On Nov. 21, 2015 the Bears posted their first win of the season with a 59-54 win at Campbell University, and on Jan. 9, 2016 they recorded a 63-58 victory against Delaware State.
STARTING LINEUPS
Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman had several starting lineups during the course of last season. The Bears had a total of nine different starting lineups through the 31 games.
NOTABLE DEPARTURE
The Bears will look to replace standout forward Cedric Blossom who statistically ranked among the top players for Morgan State last season.
• He was selected All-MEAC Third Team and completed the 2015-16 regular season ranked No. 10 in the MEAC in scoring (14.9 ppg), ranked No. 7 in field goal shooting percentage (.497), and he also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game.
• Blossom's selection to the All-MEAC Third-Team marks the eighth time out of 10 seasons under head coach Todd Bozeman that a Morgan State player has been named to the All-MEAC first, second or third team.
• He is currently a member of the Petrolero Argentino basketball team in Argentina.
ON DECK
The Morgan State Bears will host the Towson Tigers on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hill Field House.
