Record against EIU: 20-26
First Meeting: 12/14/81 MSU won 79-77 at MSU
Last Meeting: 1/7/23 MSU won 69-59 at MSU
Streak: MSU, 4 games
Record against EIU in Charleston, Illinois: 7-15
Record against EIU in Morehead: 13-11
Neutral record: 0-0
• Morehead State has won 9 OVC regular-season titles in its history: 1955-56, 1956-57, 1960-61, 1962-63, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1983-84 and 2002 -03 .
• Morehead State continues its longest winning streak against Eastern Illinois with a win. It would be the fifth straight win against the Panthers. MSU also won five consecutive times over EIU from 2011 to 2014. However, the Panthers still have a 15-7 advantage over MSU in games played at EIU.
• Morehead State lost four of its five starters from 2021-2022, only bringing back players who collectively averaged 13.1 points, but the Eagles still managed to capture at least part of the OVC regular-season title .
• MSU has won nine of their last ten games. In that span, the Eagle defense had held five opponents to under 60 points and only allowed an average of 60.7 points per game.
• MSU ranks first or second in the league in eight different statistical categories.
• Drew Thelwell has scored in double digits in four of the last five and 13 of the 16 OVC games. He had a career-high 24 against Southeast Missouri on February 11 and scored 19 against Lindenwood on February 18.
• Markus Freeman Fifth overall (15.2/game) in the league. He has had nine games with at least 18 points in OVC play and is one of only three players to have scored 25+ points in four games against OVC teams.
• Not only Markus Freeman Dangerous for the opponent, he can also hand out assists. Freeman’s 87 assists rank seventh in the OVC.
• Alex Gross is one of only 14 current players on Division I teams to have 2,000+ career points in college. He is the ONLY current Division I player to have 2,000+ points AND 1,400+ career rebounds in college (Gross’s first four seasons were in NAIA). His career college totals stand at 2,371 points and 1,437 career rebounds.
• Alex Gross’ The 19-point, 13-rebound double-double against Tennessee State was his sixth double-double as an Eagle and now his 50th college double-double in the last three seasons.
• Alex Gross leads the OVC in blocked shots with 57 and has put away at least one in all but three games. He had a career-high five rejections against Tennessee State last Thursday and now has 420 career blocks in college.
• Among Kentucky’s 8th Division I men’s basketball programs, Morehead State ranks first for wins over the last three seasons – 65.
• Preston Spradlin ranks first among the 10 current OVC head coaches in terms of wins at their current school (111), win percentage at their current school (.531), conference wins at school (71), and conference winner percentage (.572).
• Another win marks Morehead State’s third straight 20-win campaign. This has only happened once more in program history, from 2008/09 to 2010/11.