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Game 1
Opponent: Binghamton Bearcats  (0-0, 0-0 America East)
Date: Friday, November 10, 2017
Site:  Dr. Bai Lee Court at Events Center, Vestal, N.Y.
Game Time: 7 p.m. 
Series Record: First Meeting
Live Video Stream: ESPN3
Radio: WNBF-AM, 1290 
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (173-178, 12th yr) • Binghamton - Timmy Rose (36-118 5 yrs)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.www.bubearcats.com

SETTING THE STAGE
The Morgan State University men's basketball team opens the 2017-18 season on Nov. 10 against Binghamton inside Dr. Bai Lee Court at Events Center.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
•  Binghamton, a NCAA Division I program from Vestal, N.Y., has a veteran group for the 2017-18 season. The Bearcats return 11 letterwinners, including their top five scorers from last season. Leading the charge are senior forward Willie Rodriguez (1,105 career points), junior guard J.C. Show (four 20+ point performances in 12 games before injury last December) and reigning team MVP Bobby Ahearn (9.7 ppg., 4.6 rpg.).
•  The Bearcats finished the 2016-17 season with an 12-20 overall mark and a 3-13 record in conference play under head coach Tommy Dempsey.
•  Thomas Bruce (DeMatha Catholic) returns after being named to the America East All-Defensive Team by posting 7 ppg, 5 rpg with 30 blocked shots as a sophomore. Senior forward Willie Rodriguez returns after finishing second on the team in scoring (12 ppg) and shot almost 50 percent from the field last season and senior Bobby Ahearn added 9.7 ppg and 4.6 rpg.
•  Timmy Rose led the Bearcats from his guard position with 7.3 ppg and accounted for 116 assists in 32 games played. As a team, Binghamton hit a total of 248 triples and averaged 68.0 points per game, which ranked sixth and seventh in the league respectfully. 
•  Binghamton lost four games by a total of 5 points or less, including one overtime loss. 

THE SERIES
• The game will be the first matchup between the schools.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 12th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 11 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments. Bozeman is also the school's all-time winningest coach with 173 victories...and counting!

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 sophomore forward Azariah Sykes is from Richmond, Va. and graduated from Milwood HS. Returning sophomore center Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Harlem native Tiwian Kendley is not from the DMV... he did play at Eleanor Roosevelt HS.

CARR NAMED MEAC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR, KENDLEY SELECTED TO FIRST TEAM
The MEAC announced that Morgan State forward Phillip Carr is the 2017-18 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year.
• Carr, a Brooklyn, New York, native, led the Bears in rebounding, and was second on the team in scoring last season.
• He was selected to the All-MEAC's first team while being the third Bear to earn the Defensive Player of the Year honor (Boubacar Coly – 2008, Kevin Thompson - 2010).
• Carr becomes the first Bear to be named the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year since Kevin Thompson before his senior season in 2010. Reggie Holmes is the last Bear to win the regular-season award, when he received the award in 2009.
• Todd Bozeman's Bears received 13 of 26 first-place votes, outdistancing Norfolk State, and reigning champion North Carolina Central atop the standings.
• Carr led the five-man preseason All-MEAC First-Team and was joined by teammate Tiwian Kendley, who was the MEAC's leading scorer after averaging 21.0 points per game last season. The rest of that group was Norfolk State's Zaynah Robinson, Bethune-Cookman's Brandon Tabb and Howard's Charles Williams.

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their third season. The0 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 first 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.

CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The year will open the 2017-18 season with a pair of road matchups, first  at Binghamton Nov. 10, followed by South Florida Nov. 13. The Bears' season-opener will be Nov. 16 versus Lincoln (Pa.), followed by a Nov. 18 date at West Virginia. The Bears will host Goldey Beacom Nov. 21 for its final home contest of the year. The Bears remaining seven non-conference  games will occur on the road. MSU will wrap the month of November at Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 27) and George Washington (Nov. 29). The Bears travel schedule will continue with matchups at Navy (Dec.3 ), Towson (Dec. 6), Manhattan (Dec. 9) and George Mason (Dec 22). MSU's west coast swing will begin with a trip to face Grand Canyon Dec. 27 in Las Vegas, followed by a game at CA-Northridge Dec. 30.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Bears completed the 2016-17 season ranked No. 2 in the conference in free throw percentage by shooting 71.1 percent (484-681) from the line. Phillip Carr ranked No. 3 (.829) in the league, while Tiwian Kendley  shot .786 from the stripe (No. 7 in MEAC).

BEAR D 
The Bears defense was ranked among the conference leaders a season ago.
• The Bears ranked No. 1 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 28.6 percent.
• The Bears ranked No. 5 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 43.8 percent.
• MSU's defense ranked No. 2 in scoring defense by limiting opponents to an average of 70.7 points per game.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his nine 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 86-41 (.677) overall home record at  Hill Field House.

RETURNING PTS, REBS, ASTS
Morgan State returns 80.8 percent of its scoring from a season in which the team averaged 67.5 ppg during the 2016-17 season of 67.5 points ... MSU returns 74.9 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 74.3 percent of last year's team average of 39.0 a game ... When it comes to assists, MSU returns 263 assists from the total of 322 assists from last season or 81.7 percent returning.

EXTRA SHOTS
•  Binghamton men's basketball will take a trip to Cancun to highlight its 2017-18 first semester schedule. The Bearcats were selected to participate in the Cancun Challenge, which features two U.S.-based games and then two games at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya resort in Cancun, Mexico.
•  F Thomas Bruce was a late bloomer – having suffered a broken leg his freshman year at DeMatha Catholic HS and spent the next year largely still recuperating from that injury. He was a key member to DeMatha's team that won 33 games – the fourth most in school history.
•   Edward Scott, director of intercollegiate athletics for Morgan, was the senior associate director of athletics and divisional diversity officer for athletics at Binghamton.

ABOUT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is celebrating its 150th year of excellence in higher education. A Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution, Morgan offers more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.