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Game 12
Opponent: CSUN Matadors (5-8, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, December 29, 2018
Site: Northridge, Calif.
Game Time: 10 p.m. 
Series Record: CSUN leads 4-0
Live Stats: csunsports.com
Television: CSUN Sports TV
Radio: n/a
Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (152-203, 13th yr) • CSUN - Mark Gottfried (5-8, 1st yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.gomatadors.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (5-6) will be hoping to bounce back into the win column when they travel to face Big West member CSUN (5-8) on Saturday (Dec. 29). Start time at The Matadome is scheduled for 10 p.m. and will be broadcast on CSUN Sports. MSU will look to finish off the calendar year on a positive note following its 76-53 road loss against Old Dominion. CSUN posted a 81-80 victory Sunday afternoon over Rider.

THE SERIES
• Saturday's contest will mark the fifth matchup between the schools with CSUN leading the series 4-0.
• Tavrion Dawson had 14 of his 20 points in the second half and CSU Northridge beat Morgan State 79-69 on Dec. 31, 2017.Dawson also had nine rebounds for the Matadors (3-11), who won their second in a row following an 11-game losing streak.  Tiwian Kendley had 22 of his game-high 29 points in the second half for Morgan State. Stanley Davis finished with 13 points, while Phillip Carr posted his 20th career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

BEAR BITS
• The Bears have had seven different leading scorer in the first 11 games of the season.
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls broke out for a career-high 19 point effort against Towson while making five field goals and shooting a perfect 8-for-17 from the field. 
• MSU out-rebounded Wilmington by a 45-27 margin and the Bears scored 42 points in the paint.
• The Bears scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers against Binghamton.
• Freshman Sherwyn Devonish-Prince hit for double-figures for the fourth time in his last six games and is averaging 9 ppg.
• Morgan State's newcomers have accounted for 42.6 percent of the team's scoring, 38.9 percent of rebounding and 43.9 percent of the minutes.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS
• The CSUN men's basketball team was picked to finish eighth in the Big West preseason pool.
• Freshman forward Lamine Diane averaged a double-double en route to earning his second Big West Player of the Week award this season, the league office announced on Monday. 
• CSUN is coming off a 6-24 season last year and went 3-13 in conference play. They wrapped the season on a 5-game losing streak.
•  CSUN has one of the youngest rosters in the country. The Matadors have eight freshmen (6 true freshmen).
• Sophomore guard Terrell Gomez leads CSUN by averaging 17.3 ppg on 45.7 percent shooting this season. He leads the Big West in minutes per game (37.4) while he is the fourth in points per game.  He became the third Matador to be named Big West Freshman of the Year in 2017-18.
• Redshirt freshman Lamine Diane is leading the Big West in points per game (24.6) and rebounds per game (10.2).
• The Matadors lead the Big West in points per game this season by scoring 75.9 per game.
• The CSUN coaching staff has advanced to a combined 48 NCAA Tournaments.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MATADORS
Freshman Darius Brown II hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to lift CSUN (5-8) to an 81-80 win over Rider on Sunday afternoon at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. Four Matadors scored in double figures. The Matadors won both games in Las Vegas last weekend to win the Upper Division Las Vegas Classic as freshman Lamine Diane earned MVP and All-Tournament honors.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Ahmad Caver scored 21 points with eight assists and Old Dominion snapped Morgan State's three-game win streak with a 76-53 victory last Saturday. Caver was 9 of 15 from the field for the Monarchs (10-3). Marquis Godwin added 15 points, Xavier Green had 11 points and seven rebounds and Aaron Carver had 10 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. ODU shot 45 percent from the field compared to 28 percent for MSU and had a 48-31 rebounding edge.

MSU-LINCOLN-PA. POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER 
The Morgan State- Lincoln-Pa. men's game scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15th at Hill Field House was postponed due to inclement weather. 
•  The game has been rescheduled for January 3rd. The time will be announced at a later date.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 13th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 12 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments. 

WHO'S OUT
Morgan State's standouts Phillip Carr and guard Tiwian Kendley completed their careers as two of the school's all-time top players. Kendley, a 6-5 guard from Harlem, N.Y., has made his mark as one of the top players in school history. In his senior campaign, Kendley averaged 26.1 points per game and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game while also averaging 2.1 steals per game. He is currently a member of the NBA G League's Washington Go-Gos. Carr is one of only seven players to wear the MSU uniform and score over 1,000 points with over 700 rebounds, totals that he accumulated in just three seasons as a Bear. Carr is currently playing for the New York Knicks team's G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.

WHO'S BACK
Back from last season's squad that finished with a 13-19 record are starters Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie, while Stanley Davis Jr. and David Syfax return to the Bears along with a number of contributors off the bench with: Tyler Streeter, LaPri McCray-Pace and Kyson Rawls.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added seven newcomers to the 2018-19 roster: G Ranell Bell; G Malik Miller;  G Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr.; G Isaiah Burke; F Jordan Little;  F Victor Curry; and F Taron Oliver Jr.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 49.6 percent of its scoring, 28.4 percent of its rebounding and 55.1 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Tyler Streeter - .543 ), three-point percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .369), free throw percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .800), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.4 rpg), assists (Martez Cameron, 4.3), steals (Martez Cameron, 1.5),  blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.7). and minutes played (Martez Cameron, 32.6).  Six (6) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Cameron (26), Davis (16), Gillespie (14 ), McCray-Pace (10), Rawls (6) and  Syfax (5).

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 four players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Freshman point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Freshman guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while junior forward Taron Oliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Freshman guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep.

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their fourth 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 2018-19 season with three road matchups, first at Villanova Nov. 6, then at Saint Francis on Nov. 9, followed by DePaul on Nov. 12. The Bears' home-opener will be Nov. 15 versus Lincoln (Pa.), followed by a Nov. 20 date when they host the Naval Academy. The Bears will face Mount St. Mary's at Hill Field House on Nov. 25, and travel to George Mason on Nov. 28.  The Bears will face Virginia on Dec. 3 and will host Binghamton on Dec. 5. MSU will take on Towson on Dec. 8, followed by a matchup with Wilmington (Del.) on Dec. 17. MSU will wrap the month of December at Old Dominion (Dec. 22) and will travel to the west coast for a game at CA-Northridge Dec. 29.

PREDICTED TO FINISH SIXTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced today.  
• The Bears return two starters from last year's team, bringing back senior guards Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie. MSU also returns a few talented upperclassmen in senior guard Tyler Streeter and junior guard Stanley Davis and junior forward David Syfax.
• MSU was selected to finish sixth in 2018-19, earning 138 points in the poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors who could not vote for their own team or team members. Bethune-Cookman edged out North Carolina Central for first place honors.
• Seven (7) Bears are back from a team that tied for seventh in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 7-9 in the conference and 13-19 overall. MSU's season ended with a 79-70 loss to North Carolina Central in the MEAC Tournament semifinals.
• The 2018 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 5-10 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering 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.