MSU Gamnotes
Game 34
No. 1 seed Morgan State (24-9, 15-1 MEAC) vs. No. 8 Howard or No. 9 North Carolina A&T
Wednesday, March. 10, 2010 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum – Winston-Salem, N.C.
Television – n/a
Radio – WEAA, 88.9 FM
The Opening Tip
No. 1 seeded Morgan State, the 2009-10 MEAC regular season champions, will face the winner of No. 8 seed Howard vs. No. 9 seed North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, March 10th. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem (NC) and will be broadcast by WEAA, 88.9 FM.
The Last Time Out
Reggie Holmes, playing before a packed house in his final home game, broke Marvin Webster's all-time scoring record at Morgan with a 36-point effort and a 74-54 victory over Coppin State.
Series History – No. 9 North Carolina A&T & No. 8 Howard
No. 8 Howard: Morgan State holds a 57-40 advantage in the series since 1950. MSU has won seven straight against the Bison since 2006, including 9 of the last 10 meetings. The Bears won both games between the two teams last season by a total of 27 points. Reggie Holmes made seven of his 16 shots from the field and 6-of-6 on free throws as the Bears 32-point win was its largest margin of victory since pounding Bethune-Cookman by 35-points (78-44) on Jan. 19, 2009.
No. 9 North Carolina A&T: North Carolina A&T holds a 46-30 all-time record against the Bears since the series began during the 1950-51 season ... In the first meeting between the teams, the Aggies defeated the Bears by a score of 69-58 ... The Bears have won in five of the last six meetings, including the last four meetings ... The last time the Aggies defeated Morgan State was during the 2006-07 season when they dropped the Bears in 91-79 in overtime inside of a sold-out Corbett Sports Complex.
Holming In
♦ Morgan State senior guard Reggie Holmes will enter Monday's contest averaging 22.4 points per game, including six 30 point outings thru 33 games. He currently leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in scoring and ranks in the NCAA Top 10 (ranked No. 8).
Thompson's Hospitality
♦ Morgan State forward Kevin Thompson was named to the Freshmen Mid-Major All-America team by Collegeinsider.com at the end of the last season. Thompson posted his 20th double-double of the season (26th career) when he finished with 15 points and 21 rebounds in a regular season-finale win against Coppin State on March 4. Thompson is among the nation's leaders in rebounds ... he ranks No. 4 (12 rpg) and has posted 25 rebounds in a game which is an NCAA single-game high for this season.
Numbers Game
♦ Morgan State had an 11-game winning streak snapped by S.C. State on Feb. 15 and bounced back with a win against the MEAC's No. 2 ranked Delaware State on Feb. 17 ... The Bears have won 19 of its last 24 games.
♦Morgan State is ranked 18th in the CollegeInsider. com Mid-Major Poll, marking its 6th week ranked among the top Mid-Majors in the country.
♦ Reggie Holmes has had an exemplary career for the Bears … The senior surpassed also a milestone in the history of Morgan State men's basketball … He poured in a career-high 36 points in the regular season finale against Coppin State and as a result he passed Marvin Webster as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,994 career points ... Webster scored 1,990 from 1971-75 and had held the record for 35 years … he's six points away from becoming the first player in Morgan State history to score 2,000 points.
♦ Prior to the S.C. State loss, MSU had won 12 straight regular season conference games since last year.
♦ Senior guard Troy Smith scored a career-best with 19 points in a win against Norfolk State (March 1).
♦ As a result of clinching the MEAC regular season conference championship, the Bears are guaranteed to play in the postseason for the third straight year.
♦The Bears shot a season-high 54.5% (30-55 FG) from the field and outscored Winston-Salem State in the paint 42-to-32.
♦ Morgan State is 18-4 when scoring 70 or more points, with losses coming at Louisville (81-90), Appalachian State in overtime (92-93) and a tough loss at Robert Morris (78-75).
♦ The final 3 minutes has been critical in the Bears' success this season… Morgan State is 21-2 this season when leading with 3 minutes to go and 3-7 when trailing with 3 minutes left.
♦ Morgan State swept the top individual awards for the season in the MEAC. Reggie Holmes was named Player of the Year , Kevin Thompson earned Defensive Player of the Year and freshman DeWayne Jackson was selected as Rookie of the Year. Todd Bozeman also was named Coach of the Year for the third straight season.
