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Game 8
Opponent: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016
Site: The RAC
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Series Record: First meeting
Live Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio Stream: WEAA, 88.9 FM (www.weaa.org)
Talent: Lamont Germany (Play by Play) | Jimmy Fly (Color Analyst)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (161-167, 11th yr) • RU Steve Pikiell (6-1 1st Season) 
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.scarletknights.com

SETTING THE STAGE
The Morgan State Bears will head north to Piscataway, N.J., to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, December 3.  The Bears suffered a 62-61 buzzer-beating home loss against High Point on Monday, while Rutgers fell 73-61 at Miami on Nov. 25 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Tip-off at Rutgers Athletic Center (The RAC) is scheduled for 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on the web via BTN Plus. There will be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @MorganStBears and LIVE stats on scarletknights.com.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
• Rutgers finished the 2015-16 season 7-25 overall record, going 1-17 in Big Ten play and finished in 14th place. The Scarlet Knights lost to #4 seed Nebraska (L, 89-72) in the first round of the conference tournament. RU return eight letterwinners and two starters from last year's team.

• The Scarlet Knights are off to a 7-0 start and are averaging 76.7 points per game and are shooting 43.4 percent from the floor.

• Steve Pikiell  (UConn '90) enters his first season as the Knights' head men's basketball coach. He currently holds a 205-156 career record in this his 12th season as a head coach. He was the 2016 America East Conference Coach of the Year and led Stony Brook to six postseason appearances over the past seven years.

• Rutgers has three players averaging double-figures r-junior foward Deshawn Freeman currently leads the team averaging 12.6 points per game. Freeman also ranks tied for 11th nationally in double-doubles. R-junior guard Nigel Johnson is averaging 11.6 points per game. Freeman also leads the Knights on the boards with 9.0 rpg and has 9 blocks. Junior guard Mike Williams is  averaging 11.4 ppg and sophomore guard Corey Sanders has posted 9.9 ppg and is dishing out 4.9 assists per game. 

• The Scarlet Knights lead the nation in offensive rebounding (17.9), and is also fifth in rebounding margin (13.4) and eighth in total rebounding (45.1).

THE SERIES
• Saturday marks the first meeting in the series. 

DEFENSE IMPROVING
Morgan State's defense has been improving through the first seven (7) games of the season.
• The Bears rank No. 2 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 31 percent.

• The Bears rank No. 4 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 43.9 percent.

• MSU's defense ranks No. 5 in scoring defense by limiting opponents to an average of 77.6 points per game.

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 79-38 (.675) 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.

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.

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.

RETURNING POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS
• Morgan State returns 43.1 percent of its scoring from a year ago -- 29.0 ppg  out of an average during the 2015-16 season of 67.4 points ... MSU returns 14.4 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 41.0 percent of last year's team average of 35.1 a game.

• When it comes to assists, MSU returns just 144 assists from the total of 349 assists from last season or 41.2 percent returning.

NEXT UP 
The Bears return to Hill Field House when they host  the Manhattan Jaspers on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.