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Game 26
Opponent: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (15-12, 9-3 MEAC)
Date: Monday, February 19, 2018
Site:  Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m. 
Series Record: Morgan State leads the series 33-25
Live Stats/Video Stream: morganstatebears.com
Radio: WEAA, 88.9FM | Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.org)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (183-193, 12th yr) • BCU - Ryan Ridder (15-12 1st yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.bcuathletics.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (10-15, 6-6) continues conference action when they face the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (15-12, 9-3) on Monday (Feb. 19) at Hill Field House. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on morganstatebears.com. MSU is coming off a 74-48 road win against Florida A&M. Tiwian Kendley scored 24 points and David Syfax posted 17 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Tabb scored a season-high 34 points and knocked down 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 17 seconds as Bethune-Cookman held off Coppin State to earn an 89-85 Saturday afternoon at the PEC.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Bethune-Cookman begins its first season under head coach Ryan Ridder ... Ridder  joined BCU after a four-year stint at Daytona State College where he led the Falcons to 95 victories and four Mid-Florida Confernece championships ... he's also the son of legendary Embry-Riddle men's head caoch Steve Ridder.
• BCU finished the 2016-17 season with a 10-22 overall mark and finished with a 6-10 mark in the MEAC ... The Wildcats fell to North Carolina Central, 95-60, in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals at The Scope Arena.
• BCU is off to an 9-3 start in confernece play and are 15-12 overall averaging 80 points per game (No. 2 in MEAC) and are shooting 43.4 percent from the field (No. 4 in MEAC) and 31.8 percent from 3-point territory.
•  The Wildcats are led by Brandon Tabb who is averaging 18 points (No. 4 in MEAC). The transfer from Central Florida State is shooting 39.3 percent from the field and is shooting 33.9 percent from the three.  BCU's other player averaging double-figures include: Isaiah Bailey is averaging 15.7 ppg (No. 9), along with Shawntrez Davis (14.9 ppg) and   Malik Maitland (10.5 ppg).
• Soufiyane Diakite and Shawntrez Davis are ranked No. 2 and No. 3  in the MEAC in rebounding ... Diakite is averaging 9.4 rpg and Davis 8.7 rpg.
• BCU is holding its opponents to shooting 33.6 percent from beyond the arc (No. 3 in MEAC).
•  Brandon Tabb scored a season-high 34 points and knocked down 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 17 seconds as Bethune-Cookman held off Coppin State to earn an 89-85 Saturday afternoon at the PEC.

THE SERIES
• Monday's contest will mark the 59th matchup between the schools ... Morgan State leads the series 33-25.
• Phillip Carr scored a game-high 25 points to lead Morgan State to a 69-63 victory on jan. 7, 2017 at the L. Gale Lemerand Fitness Center on the campus of Daytona State College. Kyle Thomas matched his season-high with 16 points off the bench as the Bears. Martez Cameron added 11 points and seven assists. 
• The Wildcats last win against Morgan State was on Jan. 18, 2016 ... Ricky Johnson scored 19 points and Bethune-Cookman beat Morgan State 62-50 in Daytona Beach. The Wildcats had a program-record 12 blocked shots -- seven from Mario Moody. Morgan State was led by Rasean Simpson with 17 points and nine rebounds. Phillip Carr had 14 points with nine boards and Cedric Blossom added 11.

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 183 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 72.2 percent (428-593; No. 4 in MEAC) from the stripe. Phillip Carr  is shooting 85.3 percent (93-109; No. 3), followed by Stanley Davis at 72.9 percent (35-48) and LaPri McCray-Pace at 71.4 percent (45-63).
• Tiwian Kendley will enter Monday's contest versus Florida A&M after shooting 6-for-6 vs. Florida A&M (Feb. 12)... he's shooting 74.8 percent (119-159) from the line and leads the team in the number of made and taken free throws thru his first 15 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 74.5 points (No. 3 in MEAC) thru 25 games.
• The Bears rank No. 6 in the MEAC in field goal percentage defense at 44.2 percent.
• The Bears rank No. 7 in the MEAC in three-point field goal percentage defense at 35.6 percent.

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Morgan State is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor.
• The Bears have shot under 50 percent from the floor in its first 21 of 25 games.
• Morgan State has shot 50 percent or better in four of its last 21 contests ... they shot 50 percent against Goldey-Beacom (Nov. 21), a season-high 52 percent at Mount St. Mary's (Nov. 27), 50 percent in a win against Florida A&M (Jan. 6) and 51 percent in the rematch versus Florida A&M on Feb. 12.
• Three starters are shooting better than 40 percent from the floor – Tiwian Kendley (.447), Phillip Carr (.421) and Antonio Gillespie is shooting 40 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 93-42 (.689) overall home record at Hill Field House.
• Morgan State is 7-1 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 26th career double-double with 21 points and 15 boards vs. Savannah State (Feb. 10).
•  Carr currently leads the MEAC on the glass by averaging 9.7 rebounds per game in 25 games of the season.
•  He has been selected twice as the MEAC Defensive Player of the Week (Dec. 26 & Jan. 9).
•  Carr has posted 13 double-doubles so far this season.
•  He is averaging 14.7 points and 10.5 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 nine rebounds versus Florida A&M (Feb. 12) and currently ranks among the school's leaders in rebounds ranked No. 7 with 696 boards.
•  Carr is 39 rebounds shy passing Anthony Young for No. 6 (734) on the school's all-time rebounds list.

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 (Dec. 22) 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 13 of 15 games.
• He's currently averaging 25.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 steals and is shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 74.8 percent from the charity stripe.

THE SYFAX EFFECT 
Sophmomore David Syfax is a premier "energy" player off the bench for the Bears. The Detroit native is a competitive player who brings an invaluable commodity of effort and passion to the floor that tends to lift the play of his teammates.
• Syfax scored a season-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and had a game-high 10 rebounds with four blocks in a victory on Feb. 12 at Florida A&M.
• He's currently averaging 6.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg with 18 blocks.
• Syfax has scored in double-digits six times so far this season.
• He was inserted into the starting lineup at Norfolk State (Feb. 3) and has started in the last four games.

SIGNIFICANT VICTORY AGAINST FLORIDA A&M
• With its 74-48 win against Florida A&M (Feb. 12), MSU recorded its first road victory against a conference opponent since a 65-54 win at Delaware State on Feb. 20, 2017.
• Morgan State registered their first road win against an opponent since a 69-63 victory against Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 27, 2017. 

FROM DISTANCE... 
•  Morgan State has made a 3-pointer in 61 consecutive games...the last time the Bears were shut out from beyond the arc was on Feb. 20, 2016 in a 73-59 loss vs. North Carolina Central at Hill Field House.
•  MSU has connected on 32.8 percent from 3-point territory (122-of-372) … ranks No. 6 in the MEAC.
•  Tiwian Kendley leads the Bears with 24 career threes...the entire roster has made a combined 122 threes. 

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.