BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Morgan State Bears will resume MEAC play when they travel to face the South Carolina State Bulldogs (13-11, 8-2 MEAC) on Monday, Feb. 8. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at S-H-M Arena. SCSU will enter the contest attempting build upon an 88-83 home win against Coppin State, while the Bears will look to rebound following a 57-49 loss at Savannah State.
 
PREVIEWING THE BULLDOGS
• SCSU returns four starters from a 2014-15 squad that finished 11-22 overall, and 7-9 in MEAC play (7th place).
• Murray Garvin (Eastern Kentucky, '86) is in his 3rd season at the helm for South Carolina State. He previously served as the Bulldogs' interim head coach and associate head coach under former head coach Tim Carter.
• The Bulldogs were picked 8th in the 2015-16 MEAC Preseason Poll.
• SCSU's junior guard Eric Eaves (6-3, 185) is among the league's leading scorers by pacing the Bulldogs 16.6 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Ed Stephens (6-2, 175) and Mitchelleville (Md.) native Gabriel McCray (6-7, 200) are also scoring in double-figures by averaing 13.8 ppg and 11.3 ppg, respectively. Daryl Palmer leads the team in rebounds with 6.1 boards per game.
• SCSU ranks No. 1 in the MEAC in field goal percentage (.445).
•  Ed Stephens scored 23 points as SCSU beat Coppin State 88-83 on Saturday. Stephens was 8 of 11 from the field including six 3-pointers for the Bulldogs. Gabriel McCray added 19 points and 9 rebounds and Eric Eaves had 18 points.
 
THE SERIES
• MSU will square off against South Carolina State for the 74th meeting in history between the two schools.
• The last matchup was in Baltimore on Feb. 10, 2015. Cedric Blossom scored 17 points and had six rebounds to lead MSU past South Carolina State 55-43. Rasean Simpson had his first-career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
• MSU's last trip to Orangeburg, S.C. was on January 7, 2012 when Ameer Ali scored 19 points to lead Morgan State almost wire-to-wire over South Carolina State 73-68 in its conference opener at the S-H-M Memorial Center. The Bears had four players in double figures as Kevin Thompson had 17 points, DeWayne Jackson 14 and Ian Chiles 10.

NEXT UP
The Bears will travel to face Norfolk State on Saturday, February 13. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m, followed by 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.

BLOSSOM CLOSING IN ON 1,000
MSU senior forward Cedric Blossom is steadily approaching a career milestone. He's currently 88 points away from scoring 1,000 career points. Blossom enters Monday's contest with 912 career points.

HARD ROAD IN THE MEAC
With the loss to Savannah State (57-49) on Feb. 6, the Bears have dropped to 0-4 in conference road games this season, including 12-straight conference road losses since last year. In fact, the last MEAC road victory was Jan. 10, 2015 when Cedric Blossom dropped a dohble-double with 24 points and 10 boards to rally and beat Delaware State 73-69. Morgan State has four road games remaining in the MEAC regular season schedule, picking up with a trip to S. Carolina State on Feb. 8.