Click for GAMEDAY
 
GAME 21: SAVANNAH STATE  (7-13, 3-6 MEAC)
Saturday, February 6, 2016 • 6 p.m. • Tiger Arena  • Savannah, Ga.
Live Stats: Go to www.ssuathletics.com
Radio: WBMQ, 630 AM
Series Record: The series is tied 2-2
Head Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (155-155, 10th yr) • SSU– Horace Broadnax (134-192, 11th yr)
Website: MSU - www.morganstatebears.com; www.ssuathletics.com
 
BEARS HIT THE ROAD TO FACE SAVANNAH STATE ON SATURDAY
The Morgan State Bears will host cross-town rival Savannah State (7-13, 3-6 MEAC) on Saturday, Feb. 6. Game time is 6 p.m. at Tiger Arena. Savannah State will enter the contest attempting bounce back from an 62-59 loss at Bethune-Cookman and snap a 4-game losing streak, while the Bears will look to build upon its impressive 83-43 rout  Monday against Coppin State.
 
PREVIEWING THE TIGERS
• Savannah State's 2014-15 squad went 9-22, went 5-11 in MEAC play (T-9th place).
• Horace Broadnax (Georgetown, '86) is in his 11th season at the helm for Savannah State. During his college career he helped lead Georgetown to the 1984 NCAA  National Championship Title and National Championship runner-ups in 1985.
• The Tigers were picked 12th in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• Savannah State Troyce Manassa (6-4, 215) and Christopher Martin (6-0, 185) are currently averaging double-figures to lead a balanced Tiger attack. Manassa is averaging 12.7 points per game, while Martin (transferred from Mt. St. Mary's) is scoring 12.2 points. Brian Pearson leads the team in rebounds with 5.0 boards per game. CSU ranks No. 3 in the MEAC in scoring defense (71.7).
• SSU is shooting 40 percent from the floor as a team and has connected on 118-of-386 (.306) 3-pointers.
•  Bethune-Cookman's shot Mario Moody hit a pair of free throws with two seconds left in the game as the Wildcats topped Savannah State 62-59 in Moore Gymnasium. Lenjo Kilo paced the Tigers with 23 points and Troyce Manassa added 14.
 
THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against Savannah State for the 5th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup in Savannah, Ga. was on Jan. 9, 2012. Morgan State forward DeWayne Jackson scored a game-high 23 points, but a Rashad Hassan dunk in the final minute turned out to be the game winner as the Tigers held on to a 57-55 victory over the Bears. The Bears shot a blistering 61.8 percent (21-34) from the field, however SSU held a 26-25 advantage on the boards, including 15 offensive rebounds.
• MSU's last win against Savannah State was on February 7, 2015 when Cedric Blossom matched a career-high with 26 points, Rasean Simpson also had a career-high 16 points and Morgan State snapped a three game losing streak by beating Savannah State 67-57. Blossom and Simpson each added nine rebounds for the Bears, who outrebounded the Tigers by a commanding 43-24 margin and held a 16-2 advantage in second chance opportunities.

NEXT UP
The Bears will travel to face South Carolina State on Monday, February 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 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.
 
HITTING LONG RANGE BUCKETS
This season, Morgan State is shooting 30 percent from long range (ranks No. 12 in MEAC), averaging 5.4 per game and 18.2 attempts per game.
• The Bears have had eight games of notching seven treys so far this season: at Virginia, Towson, High Point, Wagner, #17 Cincinnati, UMES and home vs. Coppin State.
• Andre Horne is shooting 37 percent (19-51), Kyle Thomas is shooting 32% (25-37) and Clive 'C.J.' Vaughan Jr. has connected on 13-of-51 3's.
• Last season, MSU shot 28% (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's (ranked No. 5 in MEAC).
 
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.
 
BENCH PRODUCTION RESURGENCE
It's taken 20 games for the Bears bench production to go from fairly consistent numbers to dwindling...to now resurging 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 18 points and recorded a season-low 5 points during a loss Jan. 18 at B-CU.
• Head coach Todd Bozeman's bench poured in a season-high 36 points off the bench during a win vs. Coppin State (Feb. 1).
 
BLOSSOM LEADING
Senior Cedric Blossom has scored double figures in 11 of the 15 games he's played this season and is currently the Bears' leading scorer by averaging 14.1 ppg. The starting forward is shooting 47 percent from the field, has converted 48-of-73 (.658) free throws and is averaging 6.5 rebounds per game. He enters Saturday night's contest after scoring 9 points (3-10 FG) with six rebounds in 31 minutes vs. Coppin State. It snapped a string of 5-straight games of scoring in double-figures. 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 13.0 thru the last three games for the Bears.  He earned MEAC Player of the Week (Jan. 31).
 
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 7.3 rebounds (No. 4 in MEAC) in 20 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 nine games so far this season.  Carr scored a season-high 20 points (6-17 FG) with five boards against CSUN (Jan. 2), and vs. Coppin State he posted 11 boards with 6 points and a season-high 6 assists points with six boards in 31 minutes.
 
BLOSSOM CLOSING IN ON 1,000
MSU senior forward Cedric Blossom is steadily approaching a career milestone. He's currently less than 150 points (101 to be exact) away from scoring 1,000 career points. Blossom enters Monday's contest with 899 career points.
 
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. 
 
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 20 games.