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 Morgan State Notes |     N.C. A&T Notes |  MEAC Notes 

GAME 26: NORTH CAROLINA A&T  (8-19, 5-7 MEAC)
Monday, February 22, 2016 • 7:30 p.m. • Hill Field House  • Baltimore, Md.
Live Stream: www.MorganStateBears.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM (weaa.org)
Series Record: N.C. A&T leads the series 52-34
Head Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (155-160, 10th yr) • NCAT– Jay Joyner (2-2, 1st yr)
Website: MSU - www.morganstatebears.com; www.ncataggies.com

BEARS SET TO HOST N.C. A&T ON MONDAY NIGHT
Morgan State will resume MEAC play when they host the North Carolina A&T Aggies (8-19, 5-7 MEAC) on Monday, Feb. 22. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Hill Field House. A&T will enter the contest coming off a week-long break having posted an 83-77 overtime loss at Bethune--Cookman last Monday, while the Bears will look to rebound from a 73-59 loss to N.C. Central and snap a 5-game losing streak. 
 
PREVIEWING THE AGGIES
• North Carolina A&T finished with a 9-23 record last season and was 6-10 in conference play.  The Aggies bring in an interim head coach following the resignation of longtime MEAC coach Cy Alexander.  Jay Joyner stepped in and won his first game against Savannah State on Jan. 30 (73-72), and is currently 2-2 at the helm.
• N.C. A&T was picked 6th in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• The Aggies are led by Sam Hunt who averages 15.4 points along with 1.9 assists per game. Bruce Beckford (Silver Spring, Md.) is also a major contributor for the squad with 12.8 points and 6.5 boards per contest. Joshea Singleton and Ahmad Abdullah are adding 9.4 ppg apiece.
• A&T is shooting 40 percent from the floor as a team and has connected on 152-of-490 (.310) 3-pointers.
• Jordan Potts scored 21 points and LaRon Smith a career-high 20 as Bethune-Cookman posted an 83-77 MEAC overtime victory over the Aggies on Monday. Ede Egharevba led the Aggies with 20 points.

THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against N.C. A&T for the 87th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup was in Greensboro, N.C. on Feb. 23, 2015. James Whitaker hit a pair of free throws with 1:13 remaining in overtime and a costly turnover by the Bears in the closing moments helped give A&T a hard-earned 60-57 victory over Morgan State at the Corbett Sports Center. Blake Bozeman led all scorers with a career-high 25 points for the Bears. Andrew Hampton scored 16 points (4-10 3FG) and Cedric Blossom had a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points.
• N.C. A&T's last trip to Baltimore was January 21, 2012 when Adrian Powell made a layup with 15 seconds left and North Carolina A&T held on to beat Morgan State 62-61. Morgan State (4-12, 2-3) then missed two potential game-winners in the final 14 seconds as Blake Bozeman came up short on a layup and Ian Chiles on a jumper with 2 seconds remaining. DeWayne Jackson led the Bears  with 20 points (7-15 FG) and had seven rebounds.

NEXT UP
The Bears will wrapup its 3-game homestand when they return to action on Wednesday, Feb 24 when they play host to the Norfolk State Spartans.
 
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.

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.

"TAY" DIMES
With a three assists versus N.C. Central on Feb. 20, senior point guard Donte Pretlow has dished out a total of 89 assists in 24 starts for the Bears. The senior is currently averaging 3.7 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 N.C. A&T game this Monday with 301 career assists in 113 games.

FOUR SENIORS
Head coach Todd Bozeman has four senior Bears who will be wrapping up their final games in a Blue and Orange uniform. The group of veterans includes: Cedric Blossom, Rasean Simpson, and Donte Pretlow. Andrew Hampton, who suffered a season-ending injury, will also be completing his collegiate career with the Bears.

GLASS CONTROL
• The Bears rank T-No. 9 in the MEAC in rebounding margin  (-3.8).
• Rank No. 10 in the MEAC in rebounding defense (39.2) and No. 6 rebounding offense rpg (35.4).
• The Bears have gone 5-3 when outrebounding their opponents, and are 0-17  when outrebounded.
• The Bears recorded a season-high 52 rebounds in a win against Coppin State (Feb. 1).
• MSU posted a season-low 21 rebounds in their season-opener loss at Virginia.
• Sophomore Phillip Carr ranks No. 4 in the MEAC in rebounding by averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, including a season-high 17 against Goldey-Beacom.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Phillip Carr and Cedric Blossom have both recorded double-doubles 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). Blossom finished with a 17 points and 12 rebounds on Dec. 23 against Rider, and exploded for career-highs with 28 points and 15 rebounds at Norfolk State on Feb. 13.

 
BEARS LOOKING FOR ADDED BENCH PRODUCTION
It's taken 25 games for the Bears bench production to go from fairly consistent numbers to dwindling in the last few games.
• MSU's starters (Cedric Blossom, Donte Pretlow, Rasean Simpson, Phillip Carr and Andre Horne) play at least 29 minutes and the bench plays just around 15. 
• In the past three games, the bench has contributed an average of 11.3 points. 
• Head coach Todd Bozeman's bench poured in a season-high 36 points off the bench during a win vs. Coppin State (Feb. 1).