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Game 22
Opponent: Norfolk State Spartans (6-16, 4-3 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, February 3, 2018
Site: Echols Memorial Hall, Norfolk, Va.
Game Time: 6:30 p.m.
Series Record: Norfolk State leads the series 33-17
Live Stats/Video Stream: nsuspartans.com
Radio: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.org)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (181-191, 12th yr) • Norfolk State - Robert Jones (79–79 5th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.nsuspartans.com
SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (8-13, 4-4) looks to bounce back when it hits the road for a Saturday (Feb. 3) matchup against the Norfolk State Spartans (6-16, 4-3) at Echols Memorial Hall. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on nsuspartans.com. MSU is coming off a disappointing 74-59 home loss to South Carolina State. Tiwian Kendley scored a game-high 21 points and Phillip Carr posted 10 points and 12 rebounds. Nic Thomas scored 20 points and made all 12 of his foul shots -- 10 in the final 2:15 -- and Norfolk State beat Florida A&M 80-71 on Monday night.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones (SUNY New Paltz, '02) enters his fifth season as the Spartans head coach ... NSU has posted a .734 winning percentage in conference play and made four straight postseason appearances during his first four years in charge.
• NSU finished the 2016-17 season with a 17-17 overall mark and finished 2nd in MEAC regular season play by posting a 12-4 record... The Spartans were defeated by North Carolina Central 67-59 in the 2017 MEAC Tournament Finals... they also played in the 1st Round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
• The Spartans have a pair of players averaging in double figures, led by graduate 6-8 forward Alex Long who is averaging 11 points and is shooting 54 percent from the field. Steven Whitley, a 6-3 redshirt sophomore from Norfolk, Va., is averaging 11.1 points and is shooting 42 percent from the field. Kyle Williams, a 6-4 redshirt senior guard is chipping in 9.8 ppg.
• Steven Whitley, a transfer from Robert Morris, also leads the Spartans on the glass by averaging 5.5 rebounds per game (ranks No. 13 in the MEAC).
• NSU is limiting its opponents to score 74.8 points (No. 3 in MEAC), and ranks No. 8 in the league averaging 71.3 points per game.
• The Spartans rank No. 9 in the league by shooting 68.2 percent from the free throw line.
• Norfolk State is currently ranked No. 3 in 3-point field goal percentage (.356).
• Norfolk State is ranked No. 5 in the league shooting 42.4 percent from the field.
THE SERIES
• Saturday's contest will mark the 51st matchup between the schools ... The Spartans lead the series 33-17.
• Senior forward Kyle Thomas hit the game-winning shot with 30 seconds left and junior forward Phillip Carr had a career-high 29 points with 12 rebounds as Morgan State held on to beat Norfolk State 58-56 at Hill Field House on Jan. 4, 2017.
• Norfolk State's last win against the Bears was on Feb. 13, 2016 -- Jordan Butler had 13 points, nine rebounds and a career high-tying seven blocks, helping Norfolk State to a school-record 17 blocks and a 79-73 win over Morgan State at Echols Memorial Hall. Cedric Blossom paced the Bears with 28 points and 15 rebounds.
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 181 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 BRAIN TRUST
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their third 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 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.
THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Bears have started the 2017-18 season by shooting 70.0 percent (347-496; No. 6 in MEAC) from the stripe. Phillip Carr is shooting 84.7 percent (83-98; No. 5), followed by Martez Cameron at 70.5 percent (43-61) and LaPri McCray-Pace at 71.4 percent (45-63).
• Tiwian Kendley will enter Saturday's contest versus Norfok State attempting to regain his touch from the stripe after shooting 13-for-29 thru his last three games ... he's shooting 72.1 percent (88-122) from the line and leads the team in the number of made and taken free throws thru his first 11 contests.
BEAR D
The Bears defense was ranked among the conference leaders a season ago and should once again be solid defensively for 2017-18 season.
• MSU's defense has limited opponents to an average of 75.3 points (No. 5 in MEAC) thru 21 games.
• The Bears rank No. 6 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 45 percent.
• The Bears rank No. 7 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 36.2 percent.
FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Morgan State is shooting 40.3 percent from the floor.
• The Bears have shot under 50 percent from the floor in its first 18 of 21 games.
• Morgan State has shot 50 percent or better in three of its last 17 contests ... they shot 50 percent against Goldey-Beacom (Nov. 21), a season-high 52 percent at Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 27), and shot 50 percent in a win against Florida A&M (Jan. 6).
• Four starters are shooting better than 40 percent from the floor – Tiwian Kendley (.456), Phillip Carr (.409) and Stanley Davis (.406), while Elijah Staley is shooting 52 percent.
COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his 11 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 92-42 (.687) overall home record at Hill Field House.
• Morgan State is 6-1 at home so far this season.
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.
BOARD CHAIR
Phillip Carr, the reigning MEAC Defensive Player of the Year, led the Bears in a 72-60 win over Lincoln-Pa. in which he grabbed a career record 19 rebounds, completely controlling the glass against the Lions.
• Carr's 19 boards (ranks T-No. 11 highest in the nation) bested his previous record of 17, which he set Nov. 23, 2015 against Goldey-Beacom.
• Carr posted his 24th career double-double with 10 points and 12 boards vs. South Carolina State State (Jan. 29).
• Carr currently ranks No. 2 in the MEAC by averaging 9.0 rebounds per game in 21 games of the season.
• He has been selected twice as the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week (Dec. 26 & Jan. 9).
• Carr has posted 11 double-doubles so far this season.
• He is averaging 15.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in conference-only games.
CARR REACHES 500 REBOUNDS
• Senior forward Phillip Carr recorded his 500th rebound at Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 27 in his 61st career game.
• Carr recorded 12 rebounds versus South Carolina State (Jan. 29) and currently ranks among the school's leaders in rebounds ranked No. 9 with 643 boards.
• Carr is 28 rebounds shy passing Yarborough Roberts for No. 8 on the school's all-time rebounds list.
DISHING OUT DIMES
MSU junior point guard Martez Cameron led the Bears in assists during the 2016-17 by averaging just under four per game (4.3) in 30 starts.
• Cameron notched 9 points (5-6 FT) and dished out a game-high five assists in the season opener against the Binghamton.
• He scored 11 points (4-4 FT) with five dimes and three steals in 35 minutes during the Bears win versus Lincoln-Pa.
• He poured in a career-high 19 points (8-16 FG) and had four assists and two steals in 36 minutes at George Washington.
• Cameron finished with seven dimes, seven points and three steals in 36 minutes versus Eastern Shore (Jan. 3).
• The Chicago product is currently the team's third leading scorer averaging 8.7 points, with 4.4 assists per game (No. 7 in MEAC), and ranks No. 4 with 1.7 steals per game.
KENDLEY RINGING IT UP
After missing the first 10 games of the 2017-18 season, senior guard Tiwian Kendley has returned to the hardwood for the Bears.
• The Harlem product provided quite an offensive explosion for the Bears during his season debut at George Mason last Friday night at EagleBank Arena.
• The 6-5 guard missed his first shot of the night, but completed the first half with 20 points (4-5 3FG).
• He finished with a game-high 31 points (10-22 FG) and shot an efficient 7-of-11 from 3-point territory and grabbed five boards in 35 minutes of action.
• Kendley followed the performance with another 31-point outing when the Bears played Grand Canyon at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas (Dec. 27) ... he shot 8-of-20 from the field and was perfect from the free throw line (12-12 FT) and pitched in four steals in 37 minutes of action.
• He had a string of 9-straight games of scoring 20 or more points snapped after he was limited to a season-low 13 points versus Delaware State (Jan. 22).
• Kendley has scored 20 or more points in 10 of 11 games.
• He's currently averaging 26.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and is shooting 46 percent from the field and 72 percent from the charity stripe.
ROAD TESTING
Morgan State has struggled in away games this season.
• The Bears have lost its last 10 games away from the Hill Field House.
• The Bears are currently 2-11 on the road with its only pair of wins at South Florida (Nov. 13) and Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 27).
• Morgan State's last conference road win was on Feb. 20, 2017 when the Bears defeated Delaware State 65-54 in Dover.
• Morgan State finished the 2016-17 season with a 5-10 road record and was 2-15 during the 2015-16 season.
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.
