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Game 24
Opponent: Howard Bison (5-20, 2-8 MEAC)
Date: Monday, Feb. 13, 2017
Site:  Burr Gymnasium, Washington, D.C.
Game Time: 9:05 p.m. 
Series Record: Morgan State leads the series 62-42
Live Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Television: ESPN - Kevin Brown (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (color analyst)
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM (weaa.org)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (169-175, 11th yr) • HU Kevin Nickleberry (64-150 7th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.hubison.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (10-13, 7-3) will travel to face Beltway rival Howard on Monday night. Todd Bozeman's squad fell to a full two games behind N.C. Central for the conference lead after dropping Delaware State on Saturday. The Bison (5-20, 2-8) will attempt to snap a 6-game losing streak when they welcome the Bears to The Burr. The game will be nationally televised by ESPNU and will also be broadcast on WEAA, 88.9FM  (weaa.org).  There will be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter@MorganStBears.

SCOUTING THE BISON
• Howard finished the 2015-16 season with a 12-20 overall record, going 6-10 in MEAC play. Howard is in its seventh season under head coach Kevin Nickleberry.

• HU was picked to finish 1st in the MEAC Preseason Poll with 13 first-place votes and James Daniel III was named the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, while senior guard Marcel Boyd was a First Team pick and Damon Collins was selected to the Third Team.

• HU is off to an 5-20 start, 2-8 in the MEAC, and have lost six straight games after a 75-61 loss to Hampton on Saturday. The Bison are averaging 62 points per game (No. 12 in the MEAC) and are shooting 39.4 percent from the field (No. 11) and rank No. 5 in rebounding defense (37.5 avg).

• Kevin Nickleberry's (Virginia Wesleyan '86) 2014-15 season proved to be his best at Howard thus far. The Bison tallied 16 wins, the most since the 2001-02 season. The squad went 10-6 in the MEAC, which resulted in a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, the highest in over a decade. 

•  The Bison are led by 6-foot-5 freshman guard Charles Williams who ranks No. 8 in the MEAC by averaging 14.8 points, since an injury sidelined James Daniel. Redshirt guard James Miller is averaging 15.3 ppg and is shooting 43.6 percent from the field, while senior forward Solomon Mangham is posting 9.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg (No. 6 in MEAC). 

THE SERIES
• Monday marks the 105th meeting in the series. The Bears hold a 62-42 record against Howard.

•  MSU has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, and have split in the last two matchups.

•  The last time vs. HU was on Jan. 30, 2016 in Baltimore. Cedric Blossom scored 19 points, added four steals, and MSU overwhelmed Howard in the second half in an 83-63 win. Andre Horne Jr. finished with 18 points, Phillip Carr added 14. 

• HU's last win vs. MSU was Jan. 31, 2015 -- James Carlton paced the Bison with a career-high 32 points and Howard posted a 64-48 victory over the Bears at The Burr Gymnasium. It marked Howard's first win against Morgan State since Feb. 6, 2012 (L, 54-46), and the Bears' first loss at Burr Gymnasium since Feb. 27, 2006 (L, 72-59).

• The last time Morgan State won at Howard was on March 6, 2014 when Justin Black hit a gamewinner in double-overtime with .8 seconds on the clock.  "It was a rhythm shot," Black said about the game-winner. "I was having a good year, so I was glad it went in. It was one of those things where it was an icing on the cake type of thing."

FAST BREAK 
•  The Bears are tops in the MEAC in  3-point field goal percentage defense (.280), and second in free throw percentage (69.8), rebounding offense (37.9), blocked shots (3.6), and is third in scoring defense (71.8).

•  Tiwian Kendley had a 21-point performance against Florida A&M (Jan. 30) it marked his ninth 20-point effort in 16 games.

•  Antonio Gillespie scored a season-high 17 points and connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point territory vs. Florida A&M on Jan. 30, 2017.

•  Martez Cameron is third in the MEAC in assists per game (4.6) and dished out a career-high 12 dimes vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017.

•  Three Bears (Phillip Carr, Tiwian Kendley, and Kyle Thomas) are averaging double figure points.

•  Martez Cameron had a career-high 10 rebounds along with 7 points and 4 assists in 29 minutes at Coppin State on Jan. 28, 2017.

•  Morgan State buried a season-high 12 3-pointers vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017. 

•  The Bears have a 5-1 record in games that have been decided by four points or less this season.

•  Morgan State's win against South Carolina State (Jan. 23) vaulted head coach Todd Bozeman to the number one position among all MSU head men's basketball coaches with 167 career wins.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 11th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 10 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 three players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Returning senior forward Kyle Thomas is from Owings Mills, Md. and graduated from Milford Mill Academy. Newcomer Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Tiwian Kendley played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS and is a product of Greenbelt, Md.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE 
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his 10 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 83-41 (.669) overall home record at Hill Field House. 

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TO TEST YOUNG BEARS
The year will open with a matchup at Houston Nov. 11, followed by three home contests against Towson Nov. 15, Wilmington Nov. 17 and Campbell Nov. 19. The Bears then hit the road for games at Brown Nov. 23 and Bowling Green Nov. 26, before returning to Hill Field House to host High Point Nov. 28. The Bears open the month of December with a date at Rutgers Dec. 3, before hosting a pair of contests against Manhattan Dec. 6 and Wagner Dec. 10.  The remaining three non-conference games on the schedule will take place at Penn State Nov. 21, at Loyola Marymount Dec. 27 and at California State, Northridge Dec. 29.

BEARS' SUMMER TOUR IN CANADA
The 2016-17 men's basketball season began a bit earlier than usual, as Morgan State planned a trip to Canada in August. The 7-day trip was scheduled from August 13 and ran through August 20. In that span, the Bears will played five games against outside competition. While in Canada, the Bears played games in Montreal and Ottawa. The trip marked Morgan State's sixth foreign tour since 1974. Previously, the Bears have traveled internationally to Brazil (1974), Colombia (1975), Canada, Cancun, Windsor, Canada (2010), Mexico (2011) and Nassau, Bahamas (2012).
"The tour provides returning players that might not have played a lot, to gain some valuable experience against international competition," said Todd Bozeman, who is entering his 11th season as Morgan State's head coach. "The tour allows you 10 days to practice, which is invaluable! It's a tremendous opportunity to get started early and exposes the young people to another country and culture."

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their second season. The 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 rst 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. 

WELCOME TO EAST COLD SPRING LANE
MSU's incoming class features four freshmen and three transfers. The incoming freshmen include 6-foot-4 guard Stanley Davis (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy), 6-foot-8 forward Azariah Sykes (Midlothian, Va./Millwood HS),  6-foot-7 David Syfax (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) and 6-foot-10 center Tyjahi Byers(Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS). In addition, MSU welcomes 6-foot-2 guard Isiah Graves(Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City HS), who joins the Bears as a transfer from Southern C.C., Lamar C.C. transfer Tiwian Kendley (Harlem, N.Y./Roosevelt HS)  and Alex Ennis (Ocean, N.J.), a 6-foot-10 transfer from Independence C.C.

LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory of the 2015-16 season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. 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.

NOTABLE DEPARTURE
The Bears will look to replace standout forward Cedric Blossom who statistically ranked among the top players for Morgan State last season.
• He was selected All-MEAC Third Team and completed the 2015-16 regular season ranked No. 10 in the MEAC in scoring (14.9 ppg), ranked No. 7 in field goal shooting percentage (.497), and he also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
• Blossom's selection to the All-MEAC Third-Team marks the eighth time out of 10 seasons under head coach Todd Bozeman that a Morgan State player has been named to the All-MEAC first, second or third team.

• He is currently a member of the Petrolero Argentino basketball team in Argentina.

RETURNING POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS
• Morgan State returns 43.1 percent of its scoring from a year ago -- 29.0 ppg  out of an average during the 2015-16 season of 67.4 points ... MSU returns 14.4 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 41.0 percent of last year's team average of 35.1 a game.

• When it comes to assists, MSU returns just 144 assists from the total of 349 assists from last season or 41.2 percent returning.

FORMER BEAR SHINING IN EUROPE
• Former Morgan State standout guard Justin Black (DeMatha HS) was recently named the Eurobasket.com Player of the Week. Black scored 25 points with seven rebounds and three assists to help lead Bashkimi to a victory. His squad is currently second place in the Kosovan SuperLeague with a solid 13-3 record.

• Black, an All-MEAC First Team selection as a senior, ranks among Morgan State's all-time leaders: No. 12 in scoring (1,389 pts), No. 5 in steals (137) and No. 7 in assists (260).