Date: December 1st, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

Opponent: Morehead State (3-4, 0-0 OVC)

Place: Johnson Arena

Television: None

Webcast: OVC Digital Network (Free)

Radio online: ETSUBucs.com

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Hope our guys are ready.. that's a tough place to win.. went to a couple of games over there while we were in the OVC.. all those years in the OVC we didn't win there very often.. in years when we had some good teams, we would beat them in Brooks.. and lose in their building..

These guys were picked 3rd in the OVC behind Murray State and Belmont. They have played almost exclusively on the road where they beat Marshall, lost by 1 to UNLV and by 9 to Cincinnati. They are big and outrebound their opponents by +3.4. Their only bad loss so far was a neutral site to an unusual, disciplined American University team who beat them in a slowdown game 51-46.

They will be very tough to beat at their place.

We've seemed to struggle with Morehead a lot in the recent past. Haven't they beat us 3 or 4 times in a row? I hope we're ready.

Morehead is a senior laden team that plays a short rotation with only 5 guys regularly getting much above 10 minutes. Those 5 guys include 4 Seniors (2 redshirt seniors) and a redshirt Junior. Those 5 key guys are:

Angelo Warner, 6-2 195 SR, 31.2 minutes, 16.7 points on .467 from 3(14-30 in 7 games), 4.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals
Brent Arrington, 6-3 190 R-JR, 28.3 minutes, 11.9 points on .348 (8-23) from 3 and .833 from the line, 1.3 steals
Kareem Storey 5-10 185 SR, 31.7 minutes, 8.0 points on .368 (7-19) from 3 and .913 from the line, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals
Billy Reader 6-10 250 R-SR, 26.3 minutes, 7.4 points, 0 threes, 5.1 rebounds
Karam Mashour, 6-6 210 R-SR, 19.7 minutes, 7.3 points, .368 from 3 (7-19), .500 from the line, 5.7 rebounds

All OVC guard Angelo Warner and 6-10 250 Billy Reader hurt us last year, with Warner getting 25 points on 4-9 from 3 and 10 rebounds, and Reader snagging 7 rebounds. 6-6 210 Karam Mashour is a transfer from UNLV and an Israeli Arab fluent in Arabic and Hebrew and, one imagines, in navigating cultural and religious minefields. He is a member of the Israeli national team and a relentless, aggressive high motor guy who may be a matchup problem for us.

Subs include Freshmen Marquel Willis, a 6-5 195 swingman who could be another matchup problem averaging 13.2 minutes with 6.3 points on .364 from 3 (4-11) and .778 from the line with 2.2 rebounds. Also 6-8 235 JR Anthony Elechi, 10.8 minutes, 3.2 rebounds and 4.2 points, and 6-9 255 JR Marcus Fuggins with 12.4 minutes 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 points.

They are not high scorers, averaging 66.1 to opponents 64.1. But they rebound well: 37.7 to their opponents 34.6. They outrebounded us 45 to 30 last year. They average 7 3’s per game on .371 shooting , and allow 6 to opponents on .328 shooting.

We played poorly against Morehead last year – shot poorly from 3 (21%), from the line (67%) got killed on the boards (45-30), made 14 turnovers and got beat on steals (6-10). They probably stole our lunch money, too. In other words, we looked nothing like the team that we became by the Stephen F. Austin game.

Or the team that we are now. We should use at least a token press the whole game, as against Winthrop, try to force a higher tempo than they like, making use of the defensive skills of guys like Devin Harris, Desonta Bradford and Petey McClain. We should have an advantage in shooting and turnovers. We have not (yet) been embarrassed on the boards like last year.

The guy on our team who may match up best against the aggressive high motor 6-6 Karam Mashour may be the aggressive high motor 6-5 Tommy Williams. He's dying to sink his teeth into an on court challenge.

This is a tough road game. We need to show ourselves ready to take this kind of game.

Morehead looks to be a tough, hard-nosed team. This will be challenging game.

I hope that Bartow continues playing extended rotations. I think this has helped in tangible and intangible ways. I'd also like to see us continue with the press; that created havoc against Asheville and Winthrop.

Granted, it's a small sample size, but early indicators look promising: 89 ppg (9th in country), 15 apg (73rd), and 43 rpg (25th). On the other hand, our 77 points allowed places us at 327 out of 345 D1 teams. In part, playing in transition and shooting early in the shot clock lends itself to easier and more buckets on the defensive end. Still, I like the overall picture of this year's team.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...buccaneers

http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/east-tennessee-state

“I think they’re the best team we’ve played to this point in the year,” Bartow said. “It’ll be a tough game. They’re physical, tough, a great rebounding team. They’re the best rebounding team we’ve played.”

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/...z3Kf47uJ6w

(12-01-2014 10:46 AM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  “I think they’re the best team we’ve played to this point in the year,” Bartow said. “It’ll be a tough game. They’re physical, tough, a great rebounding team. They’re the best rebounding team we’ve played.”

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/...z3Kf47uJ6w

Certainly best so far in rebounding, our sorest area from last season. But we are showing returning strength! Looking forward to another great road game and a scrappy win, saints willing. Run those Eagles off their perch!

Hope the Bucs aren't snoozing from the Thanksgiving Turkey. Since the Bucs last played on November 22, Morehead State has played twice, beating Marshall on the road by 9 on November 24, and crushing NAIA Kentucky Christian 121-49 at home on the 29th.

They should be sharp. We may be sluggish - hopefully something that we can overcome.

Ben Franklin preferred the turkey over the eagle, but I'm not putting $100 on sluggish matching sharp in any winning fashion. Very important contextual point, swva. The break could very well steal the air from under the Bucs' wings, if the team doesn't play 40 focused minutes.

Stream looks clear!

Some ugly offensive possessions to start the game.

(12-01-2014 07:00 PM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  Stream looks clear!

Definitely.. i hate how far behind jay's broadcast is from the video feed.. not much you can do i guess

Sound working for your feed?

Never mind. My two-year-old found the mute button

This is going to be a war of attrition: refs calling everything! We're rebounding and defending well. MSU forcing into a grind-em-out game.

Nice little run by the Bucs!

Refs missed a goal tend.

We can definitely win this game.