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Game 15
Opponent: CSUN Matadors (3-11)
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Site:  The Matadome, Northridge, Calif.
Game Time: 3 p.m. EST
Live Stats: here | Live Video: here
MSU Coaches: MSU - Kevin Broadus (6-8, 1st yr) • CSUN - Mark Gottfried (16-32 2nd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.gomatadors.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (6-8) concludes the 2019 calendar year with a New Year's Eve contest against the CSUN Matadors at 3 p.m. (EST) inside The Matadome. The game will air live on gomatadors.com. A win against the Matadors would give Morgan State a three-game winning streak -- its longest of the season.

THE SERIES
• Tuesday's contest will mark the seventh matchup between the schools with CSUN leading the series 6-0.
•  Terrell Gomez scored a career-high 29 points and made 5 of 9 from 3-point range to help CSU Northridge beat Morgan State 94-86 on December 30, 2018 inside The Matadome. Lamine Diane added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the seventh double-double of his freshman season.  Stanley Davis had a career-high 25 points (11-19 FG) and nine rebounds, and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince added a season-high 22 points for Morgan State. Isaiah Burke chipped in 11 points off the bench.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS
• Head coach Mark Gottfried enters his second season leading the Matador men's basketball program in 2019-20. Gottfried is the sixth head coach in the history of the program.
• CSUN is coming off a 103-72 loss at Boise State on Saturday (Dec. 28) and have lost four of its last five contests.
• Terrell Gomez, a 5-8 guard from Los Angeles, is the team's leading scorer averaging 21.4 points (ranks No. 1 in Big West) and 2.8 rebounds  ... he is also shooting 40.2 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3-point territory and 92.6 percent from the stripe.
• Lamine Diane, a 6-7 forward from Dakar, Senegal, has returned to the floor thru the last two games for the Matadors. He made his season debut in the win over San Francisco State, posting his 21st career double-double. Diane tallied 30 points and added 12 rebounds, four blocks and two steals in 29 minutes. He's currently averaging 29 points and 10.5 rebounds.
• CSUN is in the top half of the Big West in seven categories, which include ranking second in turnovers per game (13.3) and 3-point percentage (36.0), third in 3-point field goals made per game (7.9) and fourth in points per game (69.8) and assists per game (13.4).
• Sophomore Darius Brown II leads the Big West in assist to turnover (3.0) and second in assists per game (4.8)

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MATADORS
• CSUN dropped a 103-72 decision at Boise State on Saturday at ExtraMile Arena. Lamine Diane finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
• CSUN led by a point with seven minutes to go in the first half before Boise State ended the period strong and never looked back after intermission.
• Boise State shot a red-hot 57.1 percent from the field and made 11-for-23 from 3-point range (47.8 percent). In contrast, the Matadors finished with a 40.6 shooting percentage and 8-of-29 effort from downtown (27.6 percent). The Broncos out-rebounded the Matadors 43-27.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARS
• Troy Baxter scored a game-high 27 points with five rebounds and two blocks and Morgan State stunned Loyola Marymount  74-71 on Saturday night at Gersten Pavilion.
• Baxter was 8 of 15 from the field for the Bears (6-8), including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Stanley Davis added 12 points and six boards, Malik Miller had nine points and Lagio Grantsaan chipped in eight.
• Morgan State shot 48 percent from the field compared to 44 percent for LMU and outscored the Lions in the paint by a 26-14 margin.
• Eli Scott, LMU's leading scorer (17.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.6 rpg), was held scoreless in the first half, but scored his first six points of the night to tie the game at 44-44 at the 12:16 mark. Despite tying the score, the Bears never surrendered the lead.

CLOSE CALLS
• The Bears have started the 2019-20 season with a 1-3 record in games decided by 10 points or fewer, with a 71-65 loss to Saint Francis, followed by a 68-64 win at George Washington, and two close losses in The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase vs Milwaukee (62-57) and Evansville (115-112 3OT).
• After falling 81-71 on March 12 versus #7 seed Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament, Morgan State played 21 games during the 2019-20 season that was decided by 10 points or fewer. Of those games 17 were decided by seven points or fewer, including six by three points or fewer.

BEAR NOTES: 
Morgan State is shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 28.5 percent from beyond the arc; the Bears shot a season-high 52 percent (25-48) from the field vs. Longwood (Dec. 7) ... Stanley Davis currently leads the Bears averaging 14.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, including a 21-point effort in a triple overtime game versus Evansville (Nov. 24) … Troy Baxter posted his first double-double of the season during the win at George Washington (Nov. 16) … Baxter is averaging 6.3 rebounds and has 25 blocked shots (1.8 bpg), including a 5 blocks in his season debut vs. Central Penn (Nov. 6) … Sherwyn Devonish-Prince has scored in double figures in 10 of 14 games and is averaging 10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 32.0 minutes per game ... David Syfax is 21-for-30 from the free throw line and is shooting 38.4 percent from the field and is averaging 5.7 points with 3.1 boards.  

AT THE CHARITY LINE
Morgan State is currently shooting 70.4 percent (212-301) from the stripe, led by  Kyson Rawls who is shooting 83.3 percent (20-24). Stanley Davis 82.1 percent (55-67) and Lagio Grantsaan is shooting 80.0 percent (8-10). 
• The Bears completed the 2018-19 season ranked No. 4 in the conference in free throw percentage by shooting 71.3 percent (477-669) from the line. 
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince led the MEAC by shooting 86.6 percent (97-112 FT), followed by Kyson Rawls who shot 82.1 percent from the line
(64-78; No. 5) and Stanley Davis is shooting 79.8 percent from the line (79-99; No. 9).

OPPONENTS ATTACKING FROM DOWNTOWN 
Morgan State's opponents have made at least eight three-pointers in seven of their last nine games. 
• La Salle made 12 three-pointers against the Bears on Dec. 14 to Morgan's three. 
• In its first 14 games, Morgan has made 71 three-pointers (5.0 per game) to its opponents' 103 three-pointers (7.3 per game). 
• Morgan has been outscored by 96 points from three-point range this season for an average of 6.9 points per game. 
• The Bears' opponents have scored 30 percent of their points this season from three-point range.

DAVIS CHASIN' 1,000
Senior guard Stanley Davis needs 168 points to reach 1,000 points for his Morgan State career. Following his 12-point effort against Loyola Marymount (Dec. 28), he currently has 832 points.

MSU TO OPEN MEAC PLAY AT DELAWARE STATE 
Morgan State will begin Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play beginning with a road contest at Delaware State in Dover, Delaware on Jan. 4 at 2:00 p.m. Delaware State (1-12) has lost five consecutive games and will host Washington Adventist on Dec. 30 before facing the Bears.  DSU is led in scoring by  sophomore forward John Crosby at 22.3 points per game along with 5.7 rebounds per game.  MSU won 76-58 at DSU. MSU leads the all-time series 57-42.

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED 
Morgan State is 2-3 on the road this season, after going 2-13 on the road during the 2018-19 season. The last time MSU finished over .500 on the road (12-7) was during the 2010 season.

WHO'S OUT
Tyler Streeter (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales HS), Antonio Gillespie (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis Central HS) and Martez Cameron (Chicago, Ill./Montverde Academy) wrapped up their collegiate careers and graduated last spring.

WHO'S BACK
The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2019-20 roster: F Troy Baxter; F Victor Okafor; G Thai're Vance; F Lagio Grantsaan; F Peter Sorber; G Cameron Shaw; F Jamar Brown.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 75.6 percent of its scoring, 67.8 percent of its rebounding and 69.0 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Stanley Davis - .454 ), three-point percentage (Isaiah Burke, .370), free throw percentage (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., .866), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.6 rpg), assists (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 2.2), steals (Stanley Davis, 1.1),  blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.6). and minutes played (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 28.0).  Five (5) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Devonish (30), Davis (25), Syfax (17 ), Curry (9), and McCray-Pace (8).

HOME GROWN 
Morgan State has seven players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Sophomore point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Sophomore guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while senior forward Taron Oliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Sophomore guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep. Junior forward Victor Okafor is from Greenbelt, Md. and played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS. Freshman guard Thai're Vance is a product of Silver Spring, Md. and played at DeMatha Catholic HS. Cameron Shaw is a freshman guard from Baltimore who played at Loyola Blakefield HS.

BROADUS' STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Kevin Broadus' coaching staff enters their first season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Merritt, Chretien Lukusa and Kevin Jones.
• Merritt  joins the Bears after serving the last two seasons as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations at LSU. Merritt, a native of St. Mary's County, Maryland, joined LSU prior to the 2017-18 season after serving as Director of Scouting/Recruiting for John Lucas Enterprises.
• Lukusa was previously spent five years on Binghamton's staff, including a pair of seasons on the coaching side. A 2011 Binghamton graduate who also earned his master's degree at the University, Lukusa returned to the program in 2014. After serving two seasons as the coordinator of player development, Lukusa earned a promotion to assistant coach in Summer 2016. 
• Jones was previously the assistant director of basketball operations and video coordinator at Radford University (2018-19) where he oversaw all things video and technology. Prior to Radford, Jones was an assistant coach at Norfolk State (2015-18) where he helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back second-place finishes in the MEAC and coached three All-MEAC guards.

THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The Bears will play three nonconference games against teams that made the NCAA tournament last season, including Temple (Nov. 9 in the road opener), Liberty (Nov. 22 in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase) and Ohio State (Nov. 29). There's a Nov. 16 trip to George Washington to get the Bears a nonconference game in Washington, and the annual showdown with crosstown foe Towson is Dec. 4 at Hill Field House.

PREDICTED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish eigth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced.
• The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.  
•MSU was selected to finish eighth in 2019-20, earning 101 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. North Carolina Central (203 points), who captured its third straight MEAC Tournament championship last season, edged out Bethune-Cookman (198 points) for first place honors, followed by defending regular-season champion Norfolk State.
• Eight (8) Bears are back from a team that placed 10th in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 6-7 in the conference and 9-21 overall. MSU's season ended with an 81-71 loss to Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament first round.
• The 2020 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 10-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

PRESEASON ALL-MEAC SELECTIONS
The Morgan State men's basketball team had a pair of Bears selected to the 2019-20 Preseason All-MEAC Team. Senior guard Stanley Davis was selected to the Second Team, while sophomore guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. was named to the Third Team.
• The most proven player on the roster is senior Stanley Davis, who led Morgan State in both scoring (12.5 per game) and rebounding (7.1). The latter number ranked seventh in the MEAC last season.
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. earned a place on the MEAC All-Rookie team by averaging 10.7 points as a true freshman.

BEARS TO HONOR ELIJAH CUMMINGS THROUGHOUT 2019-20 SEASON
Throughout the 2019-20 season, the Morgan State Bears student-athletes will celebrate the life of longtime Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings, who passed away on October 17, 2019, at the age of 68. In honor of Congressman Cummings and all of his many positive contributions to the University and his district, all Morgan State athletic teams will wear a special commemorative "EC" patch on their jerseys throughout the season. The Bears football team helmets will also be adorned with an EC decal.
• "Our department wanted to do something to recognize the many important contributions of the Honorable Elijah Cummings to the country, the City of Baltimore and Morgan State University," said Director of Athletics Edward Scott, Ph.D. "In speaking with our student-athletes, coaches and staff, we felt that the patches and decals would be the most appropriate way of demonstrating our appreciation to Regent Cummings and his family."
• The patch is a black circle with the initials "EC" in the center in orange letters and outlined in white. 
• Congressman Cummings has a long history with Morgan State University and over the years has been one of its most staunch supporters. In addition to hosting many of his youth workshops and annual career fairs at Morgan, he also served on the University's Board of Regents for 19 years after having been appointed in July 1999 (he missed one year due to other commitments at the time).

FOLLOW US IN CYBERSPACE 
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more. 
• Follow us on social media:

            Facebook: /MorganStateBears
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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.