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Game 16
Opponent: South Carolina State (2-14, 1-0 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, January 10, 2026
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4 p.m. ET
Series Record: SCSU leads the series 48-43
Live Stream: ESPN+ | Darren Zaslau (Play-by-Play), Kurt Smallwood (Analyst)
Live Stats: www.morganstatebears.com
Coaches: MSU -Kevin Broadus (85-106, 7th yr) • SCSU – Erik Martin (41-71, 4th yr)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.scsubulldogs.com
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Morgan State men's basketball team will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, Jan. 10, when the Bears host the South Carolina State Bulldogs inside Hill Field House. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. as the Bears open Baltimore Week, a stretch of home conference games in front of the Morgan faithful. Morgan enters the matchup aiming to even its MEAC record after a 66–49 loss at Maryland Eastern Shore in its conference opener. Playing back at home, the Bears will look to break into the win column against a Bulldogs squad coming in with momentum. South Carolina State snapped into the win column on Jan. 3 with a narrow 58–57 home victory over Howard and will seek to carry that confidence onto the road.
• Fans can catch all the action live on ESPN+, while those attending in person can take advantage of $5 tickets available at the door at Hill Field House.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
• Erik Martin is in his fourth season as head coach of the South Carolina State men's basketball program. Martin, one of the top assistant coaches in Division I basketball, has over 20 years of coaching experience, including 18 years at the Division I level. He most recently served 16 seasons as an assistant coach under legendary and Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins at West Virginia.
• SCSU was picked to finish third in the league, and sophomore guard Jayden Johnson was named the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 20-13 record, went 11-3 in conference play, and lost to Norfolk State, 66-65, in the MEAC Tournament Championship game.
• SCSU guard Jayden Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is averaging a team-high 11.9 points per game, 2.1 rebounds, and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point territory. Junior 6-6 guard Owen Bronston Jr. is averaging 11.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, and freshman guard Noah Treadwell is adding 8.4 points.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BULLDOGS
• Jan. 3, 2026 -- Jayden Johnson hit a pull-up jumper with one second remaining to lift South Carolina State to a dramatic 58–57 victory over Howard on Jan.3 inside Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
• Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points as the Bulldogs earned their first MEAC win of the season and snapped a long scoring drought in the final seconds.
• Owen Bronston Jr. added 10 points off the bench for South Carolina State, while Cameron Clark and James Morrow combined for 12 rebounds.
SCSU BY THE NUMBERS
• .335: SCSU ranks No. 1 in the MEAC in 3-point FG%.
• 64.4: SCSU is currently ranked No. 5 in scoring.
• 12.4: The Bulldogs have been led by Jayden Johnson, who is averaging 12.4 points (ranks No. 9 in the MEAC).
• 5.2: Cameron Clark leads SCSU on the boards (ranks No. 5).
• 86.1: On average, SCSU is giving up over 80 points per contest to opponents (ranks last).
THE SERIES
• SCSU leads the series 48-43.
• SCSU has won the last four meetings between the teams.
• SCSU's last win against Morgan was on February 15, 2025 -- South Carolina State ran away with a 90-62 victory Saturday night against Morgan State in front of an electric crowd at Smith-Hamilton-Middleton Memorial Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Omar Croskey scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs. Jayden Johnson contributed 14 points (5-10 FG) with three assists.
• Morgan's last win against SCSU was on February 3, 2024 -- Will Thomas scored a game-high 28 points, and Morgan State erased an 11-point deficit to secure a 72-70 victory over South Carolina State Saturday night at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. Junior guard Amahrie Simpkins finished with 13 points (6-10 FG) and led the Bears with nine rebounds -- he was the only other Bear to score double figures.
UP NEXT
Morgan State returns to MEAC play on Monday, Jan. 12, as the Bears host North Carolina Central in a key conference matchup at Hill Field House.
AT THE HELM
• Kevin Broadus enters his seventh season at the helm of the program, having been named the men's head basketball coach in 2019.
• The Broadus-led Bears team has compiled several significant victories over non-conference competition, elevating the caliber of wins for a program that aims to compete at a championship level within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Broadus demonstrated exemplary leadership while successfully overcoming numerous challenges at the onset of his tenure at Morgan, including navigating the rebuilding of a program under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• During the 2024–25 season, the Bears finished with an overall record of 14–18, highlighted by a balanced 7–7 mark in MEAC play. The performance mirrored that of the previous season, when Morgan State went 11–20 overall, while also posting a .500 conference record. In 2022–23, the Bears finished 15–15 overall and 7–7 in the MEAC, following a 13–15 campaign in 2021–22 that saw them place fourth in the league standings and reach the MEAC Tournament semifinals. The year prior, in 2021, Morgan advanced all the way to the MEAC Tournament championship game.
• Before Morgan, Broadus worked at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was one of the nation's best recruiters as the top assistant on Mark Turgeon's coaching staff. Broadus was influential in the successful NCAA tournament run for the Terps.
• Consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally for recruiting, Broadus was instrumental in signing several local Baltimore talents such as DeJuan Summers, Brandon Herbert, LaFonta Johnson, and Henry Sims.
WHO'S OUT
Kameron Hobbs (Stockbridge, Ga./Dutchtown HS), Wynston Tabbs (Suitland, Md./St. Mary's Ryken School HS), Amahrie Simpkins (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Will Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Mervo HS) wrapped up their collegiate careers and graduated last spring.
• Hobbs, a BOXTOROW HBCU First Team All-American, passed Jimmy Fields (139) to become No. 6 on Morgan State's all-time 3-point field goals leaderboard. He completed his career with 150 3-pointers.
WHO'S BACK
The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guard Rob Lawson and forward Trent Edwards. MSU also returns Christian Oliver, who was on the squad during the 2023-24 season.
WHO'S IN
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2025-26 roster: G Elijah Davis (Bowie State), G Alfred Worrell Jr. (Southern Mississippi), and G Christian Meeks (Waubonsee C.C.). Newcomers also include F Eugene Alvin (Florida Southwestern) and F Manok Lual (Frostburg State), along with C Dallas James, a transfer from Indiana.
RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS
Morgan State returns 16.6 percent of its scoring, 18.7 percent of its rebounding, and 23.8 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Rob Lawson - .350), three-point percentage (Rob Lawson, .379), free throw percentage (Rob Lawson., .747), rebounding (Rob Lawson - 2.6 rpg), assists (Rob Lawson, 2.4), steals (Rob Lawson, 0.9), blocked shots (Trent Edwards, 1.0), and minutes played (Rob Lawson, 26.7). Rob Lawson (23) is the only returner who has started in at least five (5) games a year ago.
HOME GROWN
Morgan State has five (5) players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Senior guard Rob Lawson is from Capitol Heights and played at National Christian Academy. Veteran guard Elijah Davis hails from Severn, Md., and played at Incarnate Word. Redshirt senior forward Jayden Socka is from Silver Spring, Md., and attended Springbrook HS. Graduate student guard Alfred Worrell Jr. and freshman David Bumpass are from Washington, D.C. Worrell went to Montgomery Blair HS, and Bumpass attended Friendship Tech Prep Academy.
ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTION
Graduate student Walter Peggs Jr., a transfer from Spring Hill College, was named to the preseason All-MEAC Third Team.
• Peggs was a BOXTOROW Division II HBCU All-America First Team selection and became the first player in program history to earn two BOXTOROW HBCU All-America honors. He was also a SIAC First Team All-Conference pick and was named to the NABC Honors Court.
• At Spring Hill, Peggs became the program's Division II era career scoring leader with 1,137 points and set the two-year career scoring average record at 21.3 points per game. He started all 26 games last season, averaging a career-best 26.0 points and 35.6 minutes per game. Peggs totaled 676 points to set the program's Division II single-season scoring record, while adding 92 rebounds. He also set Division II era records with 99 made three-pointers and 151 made free throws. Peggs shot career highs of 48.2% (213-442) from the field, 42.1% (99-235) from three-point range, and 87.8% (151-172) from the free-throw line.
TABBED TO FINISH FOURTH
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's preseason poll, announced by the conference today.
• The 2025-26 Bears earned 73 total points in the voting. Norfolk State claimed 12 first-place votes and 118 points total as the defending MEAC champions. Howard (97 pts) was selected second, followed by South Carolina State (90 pts) in third place. Delaware State (70 pts), North Carolina Central (70 pts), Maryland Eastern Shore (31 pts), and Coppin State (27 pts) rounded out the league's predicted order of finish.
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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified
high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's
Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus
designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 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.
