Courtesy of MSU Athletics Communications
Game 8
Opponent: Virginia-Lynchburg
Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 6 p.m. EST
Live Stats: here
Live Stream:here
Radio: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com)
MSU Coaches: MSU –Kevin Broadus (44-44 (4th season) • Virginia-Lynchburg – Frisco Sandidge
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.vul.prestosports.com
SETTING THE STAGE
The Morgan State men’s basketball team (2-5) welcomes the Dragons of Virginia University of Lynchburg (1-7) on Tuesday night in Hill Field House. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m. (EST) and fans can catch the action live on morganstatebears.com. The game will also be broadcast by Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com).
• Morgan State senior guard Isaiah Burke scored a career-high 30 points but Loyola Marymount rallied to drop the Bears 81-80 in overtime Wednesday afternoon at the Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles. Senior Malik Miller recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes. JuniorKhalil Turner finished with 14 points and three rebounds and three steals.
• LMU turned over Morgan 21 times and scored 23 points off those miscues … MSU led for 33:09 out of the 45 minutes, while LMU only led for 6:11.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA-LYNCHBURG
• Virginia-Lynchburg is led by head coach Frisco Sandidge. The Dragons enter Tuesday riding a 5-gae losing streak and hold a 1-7 record.
• Nov. 26, 2022 — Lindsey Wilson fell just shy of the century mark, but nonetheless, dominated Virginia-Lynchburg, 97-80, at the Lou Cunningham Classic. The three-pointers were plentiful, as both sides combined to shoot 25-for-43 from behind the arch. The Blue Raiders connected on a season-high 13 of those buckets, with Jackson Harlan coming off the bench to knock down five, including four straight on as many attempts in the first half. Marcus Willis led the Dragons with 31 points and seven rebounds. Zachary Dunn scored 15 points with eight boards, and Christian Goode added 14.
• VUL enters Tuesday night’s contest averaging 67.0 points per game on 36.5 percent shooting from the field and 28.9 percent from behind the arc. The Dragons are +14.0 on the boards being outrebounded by their opponents 41.0 to 33.0.
• Freshman guard Marcus Willis is leading the Dragons’ squad averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game while hauling in 5.0 boards and dishing out 1.2 assists per game.
• Freshman Christian Goode is averaging 11.8 points, 5.0 rebounds per game and 18 steals per game.
• Freshman Zachary Dunn has averaged 10.3 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds off the bench … he’s shooting 59 percent from the field.
ON THIS DATE: NOV. 29
• Morgan has won two of the last eight (2-6) when playing on November 29.
• The Bears last played on this date in 2021, an 60-47 win over Hampton at Footprint Center in the Chris Paul HBCU Challenge in Phoenix, Arizona.
• The Bears last win on this date in 2012, an 67-62 win over Liberty in Lynchburg, Va.
• The Bears last loss on this date was in 2019, a 90-57 loss at Ohio State.
INVESCO QQQ LEGACY CLASSIC
The Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic, a college basketball showcase featuring Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) created by actor and producer Michael B. Jordan, WME Sports (the sports division of WME, an Endeavor company), Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, and Scout Sports and Entertainment, a division of Horizon Media, announced the second installment of the showcase will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
• This year’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) men’s college basketball showcase will feature Morgan State University versus Delaware State University and Norfolk State University versus Hampton University competing in a doubleheader airing on TNT.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Offensively, Morgan is currently averaging 76.1 points thru its first seven games.
• Morgan exploded for 130 points in its home opener versus Penn State Allegheny.
• The Bears are shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc.
• Senior guard Isaiah Burke leads the team averaging 16.6 points per game on 48-percent shooting from the field and has connected on 21-of-44 3-pointers (.477).
• The Bears averaged 75.0 points (No. 2 in MEAC) thru 28 games during the 2022-23 season.
BEAR DEFENSE
Defensively, Morgan State limits its opponents to scoring 72.3 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the floor and 27.6 percent from 3-point range, allowing 6.0 long distance strikes per night.
• The Bears have caused 152 turnovers (21.7 to/g) with 87 steals (12.4 stl/g) and 34 blocked shots (4.9 blk/g).
• Morgan State is outrebounded by the opponent with a -5.0 margin as the opponent grabbed 275 total boards (39.3 rebs/g) compared to the 2409 total rebounds (34.3 rebs/g) secured.
• Last season, Morgan held opponents to 72.4 points per game (rank No. 6 in MEAC) and 43.7 percent shooting from the field (No. 8).
• The 19.3 turnovers per game Morgan’s defense forced last season ranked No. 2 in the country.
THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Bears’ returning team includes three players who shot 70 percent or better from the free throw line this season.
• Morgan has converted 66.7 percent (64-96; ranks No. 5 in MEAC) from the stripe thru 6 games.
• Kamron Hobbs is shooting 81.8 percent (9-11) … David McCullough is currently shooting 76.9 percent (10-13) from the stripe to lead the Bears … Will Thomas is shooting 71.4 percent (5-7).
• Last season, Morgan shot 67.7 percent (386-570; ranked No. 5 in MEAC) from the stripe, led by Keith McGee who shot 85.7 percent (24-28) and Trevor Moore 78.9 percent (30-38).
HOME COOKING
• Morgan completed the 2021-22 season with an 8-3 mark inside Hill Field House.
• The last time the Bears lost at home was against North Carolina Central (74-64) … their previous loss was on Jan. 23, 2022 against Howard (91-82) on Jan. 23, 2022.
• Morgan has started the 2022-23 season 1-0 at home.
NON-CONFERENCE
• The Bears are off to a 2-5 start n non-conference play so far this season.
• Morgan State went 5-8 in non-conference play in the 2021-22 season.
• Last season, MSU went 4-0 at home, 0-7 in road games and 1-1 in neutral site games.AT THE HELM
• Kevin Broadus is entering his fourth season at the helm of the program after being named as the men’s head basketball coach in 2019.
• The Broadus-led Bears team compiled several significant victories over non-conference competition in this most recent season, 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 a number of challenges at the onset of his tenure at Morgan, including having to navigate rebuilding a program under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In Broadus’ debut season, Morgan State went 15-16, its largest victory total since 2013-14. Then in the midst of a pandemic, the Bears produced a 14-8 mark — their best winning percentage since going 27-10 and making the NCAA tournament in 2009-10. This past season, Morgan finished with a record of 13-15 overall, and placed fourth in the MEAC standings with a 7-6 record while advancing to the MEAC Tournament semifinals game.
• Prior to Morgan, Broadus worked at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he has been 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 a number of local Baltimore talents such as DeJuan Summers, Brandon Herbert, LaFonta Johnson, and Henry Sims.
WHO’S OUT
• Trevor Moore (Houston, Texas), Sherwyn Devonish (Bladensburg, Md.), Lagio Grantsaan (Utrecht, The Netherlands), Seventh Woods (Columbia, S.C.), Chad Venning (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Keith McGee (Rochester, N.Y.), Elijah Bowens (Bowie, Md.), Myles Douglas (Edgewood, Md.) and De’Torrion Ware (Hopkinsville Ky.) wrapped up their Morgan careers last spring.
WHO’S BACK
The Bears return four starters from last year’s team, bringing back guards Malik Miller, and Isaiah Burke. MSU also returns guards Will Thomas along with forwards Ty Horner and Collin Nnamene.
WHO’S IN
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2021-22 roster: G Daiquan Copeland, G Kevon Wiggins,G Chase Williams, G Kamron Hobbs, G Robert Lawson, F Djonkam Lewis, F David McCullough, and F Khalil Turner.
RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS
Morgan State returns 29.2 percent of its scoring, 28.7 percent of its rebounding and 29.0 percent of its minutes played totals from last year’s team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Malik Miller – .552), three-point percentage (Isaiah Burke, .410), free throw percentage (Miller, .605), rebounding (Miller – 8.8 rpg), assists (Burke, 2.0), steals (Malik, 2.0), blocked shots (Miller, 0.7). and minutes played (Burke, 22.8). Two (2) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return – Miller (16) and Horner (9).
HOME GROWN
Morgan State has seven players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Senior guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while senior guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep. Junior guard Will Thomas is from Baltimore and played at Mervo HS. Bowie State transfer David McCullough is a product of Bowie, Md. and played at Riverdale Baptist HS. Freshman guard Chase Williams is from Waldorf, Md. and was a prep standout at Grace Brethren HS.
BROADUS’ STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Kevin Broadus‘ coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Chretien Lukusa, Keith Goodie and Larry Stewart.
• Lukusa enters his first year as associate head coach with Morgan State Basketball, after serving the previous three years as an assistant coach with the program.Prior to Morgan State, Lukusa spent five years on staff at Binghamton University, three years as an assistant. In his time at Morgan State, Lukusa has contributed many facets of the program, including recruiting, player development, and scheduling.
. 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.
• Goodie enters his enters his first season as a member of Broadus’ coaching staff for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Goodie comes to Morgan State after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Delaware State University from 2020-21 under head coach Eric Skeeters. Prior to the Hornets, he was a member of Todd Bozeman’s staff at Morgan State from 2007-to-2015.
• Stewart’s most recent stop was as an assistant coach at fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) member Maryland Eastern Shore (2019-21). A standout player at Coppin State from 1988-1991, Stewart led the Eagles to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990 and first ever National Invitational Tournament in 1991. Stewart signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Washington Bullets (now Washington Wizards) in 1991.
THE SCHEDULE
Morgan State will have a coast-to-coast presence — and even make an international venture — during nonconference play.
• The Bears open Nov. 7 against Xavier, a Big East school coming off an NIT title. Three nights later, Morgan State begins its 12-game home slate against Penn State Allegheny.
• The Bears will also visit Virginia Commonwealth before playing two games in the Jamaica Classic on Nov. 18 and 20 before heading west to meet Loyola Marymount on Nov. 23. The highlight of the December slate is a Dec. 22 trip to Arizona, which is coming off a Pac-12 championship.
|• MEAC play begins Jan. 7 against North Carolina Central. Another January highlight is defending league champion Norfolk State’s trek to Hill Field House on Jan. 23.
• The final nonconference game is actually against a MEAC opponent. The Bears will meet Delaware State on Feb. 4 in the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic in Newark, N.J. Morgan State closes the regular season with three out of its last four at home, including a Senior Night showdown March 2 against crosstown rival Coppin State, before its annual trip to the MEAC tournament March 8-11 in Norfolk, Va.
PREDICTED TO FINISH SECOND IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men’s basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s preseason poll.
• The 2022-23 Bears earned 81 total points in the voting. Norfolk State claimed 15 first place votes and 127 points total as the defending MEAC champions. North Carolina Central (102 pts) was selected second, followed by Howard in third place (93 pts). Coppin State (67 pts), Maryland Eastern Shore (46 pts), Delaware State (30 pts) and South Carolina State (30 pts) rounded out the league’s predicted order of finish.
• Senior guard Malik Miller was named to the preseason All-MEAC second team.
• The 2023 MEAC Basketball Tournament will be held March 8-11 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.
HOW TO WATCH GAMES: All men’s and women’s basketball home games will be video streamed for free through the MorganStateBears.com website. The latest broadcast and video stream information will always be listed on men’s and women’s basketball schedule pages at MorganStateBears.com.
MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RADIO: All home games and select away games for MSU men’s and women’s basketball will once again be available through Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com). Lamont Germany will handle play-by-play responsibilities and will also host pre-game and post-game shows. Including exclusive interviews with members of the teams and women’s coach Ed Davis and men’s coach Kevin Broadus. Fans can download the HSRN app for free and listen to the MSU broadcasts from anywhere. Simply search for HSRN when using the iHeartRadio app.
