GAME 23: NORFOLK STATE  (12-13, 8-2 MEAC)
Saturday, February 13, 2016 • 6 p.m. • Echols Memorial Hall • Norfolk, Va.
Live Video: www.nsuspartans.com/watch | Live Stats: ww.sidearmstats.com/nsu/mbball/
Radio: Star 1310 AM (www.star1310.com) / Hot 91.1 FM (hot91.nsu.edu:8000/128)
Series Record: NSU leads the series 32-15
Head Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (155-157, 10th yr) • NSU– Robert Jones (51-42, 3rd yr)
Website: MSU - www.morganstatebears.com; www.nsuspartans.com

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Morgan State will resume MEAC play when they travel to face the Norfolk State Spartans (12-13, 8-2 MEAC) on Saturday, Feb. 13. Game time is 6 p.m. at Echols Memorial Hall. NSU will enter the contest attempting build upon an 76-70 road win against Maryland-Eastern Shore, while the Bears will look to rebound following an 82-78 loss at top-ranked South Carolina State.
 
PREVIEWING THE SPARTANS
• NSU returns five lettermen and a pair of starters from a 2014-15 squad that finished 20-14 overall, and 12-4 in MEAC play (2nd place).
• Robert Jones (New Paltz, '02) is in his 3rd season at the helm for Norfolk State. He was named the interim head coach of the NSU basketball team on April 15, 2013, following the resignation of former head coach Anthony Evans.
• The Spartans were picked 3rd in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• NSU's redshirt senior guard Jeff Short (6-4, 205) is among the league's leading scorers by pacing the Spartans with 16.3 points per game on 43 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent from the 3. R-senior guard Charles Oliver (6-3, 215) and senior D'Shon Taylor (6-5, 205) are also scoring in double-figures by averaing 12.9 ppg and 12.7 ppg, respectively. Jordan Butler leads the team in rebounds with 6.8 boards per game.
• NSU ranks No. 1 in the MEAC in scoring per game (73.7 ppg), 3FG percentage (.375) and in free throws (.778).
•  Jeff Short scored 17 and Jonathan Wade hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left to help the Spartans slip past UMES 76-70 Monday night. D'Shon Taylor and Jordan Butler each had 16 points and eight rebounds.
 
THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against Norfolk State for the 48th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup was in Baltimore on Feb. 14, 2015. Andrew Hampton hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points and Cliff Cornish hit two free throws and blocked a shot in the final seconds to help MSU upset the Spartans 73-70.
• MSU's last trip to Norfolk, Va. was on December 6, 2014 when Jeff Short scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and Rashid Gaston added 20 points with 12 rebounds to power NSU to an 85-65 win against the MEAC  opener for both teams. Cedric Blossom led the Bears with 13 points and eight rebounds.

NEXT UP
The Bears will continue its trip in the Tidewater with an ESPNU matchup versus Hampton on Monday, February 15 at 7 p.m.
 
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 75-34 (.688) overall home record at Hill Field House.

STARTING LINEUPS
Morgan State head coach Todd Bozeman has been mixing his lineups up during the early going of the season. The Bears have had a total of nine different starting lineups through the first 22 games.

BLOSSOM CLOSING IN ON 1,000
MSU senior forward Cedric Blossom is steadily approaching a career milestone. He's currently 65 points away from scoring 1,000 career points. Blossom enters Saturday's contest with 935 career points.

"TAY" DIMES
With six assists against South Carolina State on Feb. 8, Donte Pretlow has dished out a total of 79 assists in 21 starts for the Bears. The senior is currently averaging 3.8 assists per game (Ranked No. 5 in MEAC) and matched a career-high eight dimes versus UC Riverside on Dec. 28, 2015… he also had eight assists at Manhattan on Dec. 20, 2014. "Tay" will enter the Norfolk State game this Saturday with 291 career assists in 110 games.

HORNE INSERTED AS STARTER
Junior Andre Horne made his first start since the Nov. 28 game at High Point, while former starting guard Martez Cameron was moved to a reserve role during the Bears blowout victory over Howard. Horne played an active game for the Bears, finishing with 18 points (9-12 FT), four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in 29 minutes of action. He scored 10 points with two steals in the Bears loss at South Carolina State. In the 17 games he's played, Horne is averaging 10.7 ppg as a starter in 10 games, while averaging 4.7 ppg off the bench.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Phillip Carr and Cedric Blossom have both recorded double-double in points and rebounds for the Bears this season. With 14 points and 17 rebounds against Goldey Beacom on Nov. 23, Carr posted the first double-double of the season. He posted his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards at South Carolina State (Feb. 8). Cedric Blossom finished with a 17 points and 12 rebounds on Dec. 23 against Rider.

GOING HARD IN THE PAINT
Morgan State has scored 86 points inside the paint thru the last three games, but was outscored at South Carolina State by a commanding 50-30 margin on Feb. 8.

LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory this season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. The Bears also posted an 83-63 victory over Howard (Jan. 30)...so in its last two contests, Bozeman's Bears have outscored its last two opponents by a whopping 166-106 margin. 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. 

HARD ROAD IN THE MEAC
With the loss to South Carolina State (82-78) on Feb. 8, the Bears have dropped to 0-5 in conference road games this season, including 13-straight conference road losses since last year. In fact, the last MEAC road victory was Jan. 10, 2015 when Cedric Blossom dropped a double-double with 24 points and 10 boards to rally and beat Delaware State 73-69. Morgan State has three road games remaining in the MEAC regular season schedule, picking up with a trip to Norfolk State on Feb. 13.