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Game 16
Opponent: Savannah State Tigers (4-12, 1-0 MEAC)
Date: Monday, January 8, 2017
Site:  Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: Savannah State leads the series 4-3
Live Stats/Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Radio: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.org)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (179-187, 12th yr) • Savannah State - Horace Broadnax (160-223 1st yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.ssuathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (6-9, 2-0) will host Savannah State in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action on Monday, Jan. 8. It will mark the end of a  3-game homestand for the Bears. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET at Hill Field House in Baltimore, Md. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com.  Tiwian Kendley and  Phillip Carr combined to score 67 of Morgan State's 87 points as the Bears beat Florida A&M, 87-68 on Saturday afternoon. Savannah State's Javaris Jenkins scored 19 points and Dexter McClanahan finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers to an 80-71 win their MEAC opener at Coppin State on Saturday.

QUITE A MEAC START
Morgan State's 2-0 start in MEAC play equals the 2-0 start of the 2016-17 season…a season in which the Bears started 4-0 in conference play. 

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Savannah State head coach Horace Broadnax (Georgetown, '86) enters his 12th season as the Tigers full time head coach ... During his college career by helping lead Georgetown University to the 1984 NCAA Men's National Championship Title.
• Savannah State finished the 2016-17 season with a 13-16 overall mark and finished with a 10-6 mark in the MEAC ... The Tigers, who were ineligible for the MEAC Tournament, ended their season on a good note with a 95-88 win over South Carolina State.
• The Tigers have a pair of players averaging in double figures, led by senior 6-5 guard Dexter McClanahan who is averaging 13.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 70 percent from the free throw line. Alante Fenner, a 6-5 senior, guard  is averaging 10 points and is shooting 34 percent from the field. Sophomore 6-1 guard  Zach Sellers is averaging 8.7 ppg and senior 6-3 guard Austin Dasent is chipping in 8.8 points.
• Junior 6-6 forward John Grant Jr. is a Baltimore product who transferred to the Rattlers from Howard County...3 AAA State Championship...Baltimore City Championship… Maryland City/County All- Star.
• Savannah State leads the MEAC averaging 77.9 points per game, while holding its opponents to 95.9 points (ranked last).
• The Tigers are shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from 3-point territory.
• Javaris Jenkins scored 19 points and Dexter McClanahan finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Savannah State downed Coppin State 80-71 on Saturday in Baltimore.

THE SERIES
• Monday's contest will mark the eigth matchup between the schools ... The Tigers lead the series 4-3.
•  Feb. 18, 2017 -- Tiwian Kendley led the Bears to an 83-75 win over the Savannah State Tigers at Hill Field House. The Bears outscored Savannah State 30-10 in a less than nine minute stretch to blow the game open. Kendley scored a game high 25 points this evening. Tyler Streeter added 12 points and Martez Cameron chipped in 11.
•  Jan. 21, 2017 -- Tryoce Manassa had a game-high 28 points and Savannah State handed Morgan State its first conference loss, 74-61 on Saturday night. Senior forward Kyle Thomas hit a shot to tie the game at 43 at the 13:14 mark, but it was all downhill after that as the Tigers pulled away. Kendley led the Bears with 17 points (8-10 FT), while Thomas added 16 points off the bench and Antonio Gillespie chipped in 12. The Bears trailed by as many as 14 points (72-58).

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 179 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.

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 CSUN Dec. 30.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Bears have started the 2017-18 season by shooting 71.3 percent (256-359; No. 4 in MEAC) from the stripe. Phillip Carr  is shooting 81.0 percent (64-79; No. 5), followed by Martez Cameron at 73.5 percent (36-49; No. 15) and LaPri McCray-Pace at 68.4 percent (39-57).
• Tiwian Kendley will enter Monday's contest versus Savannah State after shooting 11-for-13 from the stripe against Florida A&M (Jan. 6) ... he's shooting 83.3 percent (50-60) from the line thru his first five 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 76.4 points (No. 3 in MEAC) thru the first 15 games.
• The Bears rank No. 7 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 46.5 percent.
• The Bears rank No. 12 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 39.5 percent.

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Morgan State is shooting 40.4 percent from the floor.
• The Bears have shot under 50 percent from the floor in its first 11 of 15 games.
• Morgan State has shot 50 percent or better in three of its last 11 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).
• Three starters are shooting better than 40 percent from the floor – Tiwian Kendley (.455), Stanley Davis (.433) and Phillip Carr (.405), while Elijah Staley is shooting 52.4 percent off the bench.

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 90-41 (.687) overall home record at Hill Field House.
• Morgan State is 4-0 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. 5 highest in the nation) bested his previous record of 17, which he set Nov. 23, 2015 against Goldey-Beacom.
•  Carr posted his 21st career double-double with 19 points and 11 boards vs. Maryland Eastern Shore (Jan. 3).
•  Carr currently leads the MEAC by averaging 9.1 rebounds per game in 15 games of the season.
•  He was selected as the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week (Dec. 26) following an impressive performance during the Bears' tough loss at George Mason ... Carr has posted eight double-doubles so far this season.

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 eight rebounds versus Florida A&M (Jan. 6) and currently ranks among the school's leaders in rebounds ranks No. 12 with 589 boards.
•  Carr is 5 rebounds shy passing Cedric Blossom for No. 11 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 9.3 points, ranks fourth with 4.0 assists per game (7th MEAC), and ranks T-No. 3 in the MEAC with 1.7 steals per game. 

UH OH...GUESS WHO'S BACK
Guess who's back. Tiwian is back.
•  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's currently averaging 30.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.4 steals and is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 83 percent from the charity stripe.

DID YOU KNOW? 
Neither of the team's two best players, MEAC Preseason Player of the Year Phillip Carr and preseason first-team All-MEAC selection Tiwian Kendley, started their career at Morgan State. Carr, a senior forward, played for a year apiece at junior colleges Mohawk Valley (N.Y.) and Williston State (N.D.). Kendley, a senior guard, spent two years at Lamar Community College (Colo.) after a standout high school career at Eleanor Roosevelt in Prince George's County.

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.