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Men's Basketball Thrilled to Be Opening Season at Home Tuesday

MSU Athletics

After a long and productive offseason and an exhibition game more than a week ago, Morehead State men's basketball will finally tip off the 2018-19 regular season on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET against Kentucky Christian.

Fans can get a ticket for $6 by wearing an "I voted" sticker to the ticket window. The game will be carried live on ESPN+ ($) and can be heard on the Eagle Sports Radio Network (WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck Mraz and Dean Hardin on the call for both radio and webcast.

The Knights enter the game with four games under their belt and have yet to taste victory, falling to OVC foe Eastern Kentucky last week 136-92. Morehead State is coming off an 8-21 campaign but has all five starters back from last year, in addition to several key role players and talented newcomers.

The Eagles will have a quick turnaround after Tuesday's tilt, flying out Wednesday for a game Thursday at Connecticut to begin the 2K Empire Classic. Then they'll face Syracuse on Saturday night.

THE SERIES WITH KCU

Morehead State and Kentucky Christian have met nine times in regular-season contests with the Eagles claiming victory in all nine.

LAST TIME VERSUS KCU

The Eagles handed the Knights an 85-57 at Johnson Arena on Dec. 12, 2017. In that game, junior guard Jordan Walker led the way with 14 points, while senior point-man A.J. Hicks had 11. The Eagles out-rebounded KCU 50-27 and shot 50 percent (34-of-68) from the floor.

EXHIBITION RECAP

MSU defeated Berea (Ky.) 98-47 in its lone public exhibition game on Oct. 25. Senior forward Lamontray Harris posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while junior guard Djimon Henson cashed in with 17 points. Junior guard Jordan Walker netted 12 points, and senior guard A.J. Hicks had 11 points and a team-best five assists. The Eagle defense was superb in the first part of the opening half, holding the Mountaineers scoreless until the 13:28 mark and forcing BC to miss its first seven field goal attempts. The Eagles built a 28-2 lead with 11:13 left in the opening stanza. MSU then outscored the visitors 50-13 in the final half.

THREE-POINT STREAK REMAINS INTACT

Morehead State has made at least one three-pointer in 372 consecutive games, dating back to Feb. 13, 2007 when the Eagles had an 0-for-17 day versus Jacksonville State.

FIVE ALIVE

When Morehead State started the 2017-18 campaign, only one player had ever recorded a collegiate start. Now the Eagles enter the 2018-19 campaign with all five regular starters returning (Lamontray Harris, Jordan Walker, Djimon Henson, A.J. Hicks and Malek Green), plus another (De'von Cooper) who started 11 times.

ICE IN HIS VEINS

Senior forward Lamontray Harris enters his final campaign boasting an 80-percent accuracy rate from the free throw line in his career. He is 127-of-159 in his three seasons.

REBOUND U.

The Morehead State men have either led the Ohio Valley Conference or ranked in the top four in rebounding margin now in 11 consecutive seasons.

DOBRO POZHALOVAT' SASHA

That term means welcome in the Russian language. The Eagles welcome who is believed to be the first Russian-born player in program history this year in 6-foot-11 Sasha Sukhanov. He comes to MSU by way of Teays Valley (W.Va.) Christian High School. Sukhanov is from Tomsk, Russia, which is 3,618 kilometers and a 46-hour drive from the capital of Moscow.

PRO CONNECTIONS

20 former Eagles men's basketball players have played professionally since 2011: Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets and currently Brooklyn Nets), Demonte Harper (Russia), Brent Arrington (NBA G-League's Greensboro Swarm), Angelo Warner (Mozambique), Anthony Elechi (Japan), Xavier Moon (France), Treshaad Williams (Australia), Lyonell Gaines (Argentina), Corban Collins (Germany), DeJuan Marrero (Switzerland), Miguel Dicent (Dominican Republic), Karam Mashour (Israel), Chad Posthumus (Japan), Devon Atkinson (Australia), Kareem Storey (Slovakia), Billy Reader (England), Luka Pajkovic (Romania), Milton Chavis (Luxembourg), Ty'Quan Bitting (Kosovo) and Sam Goodman (ABA's Atlanta Aliens).

A GOOD RUN

Since 2008-09, Morehead State has had five 20-win campaigns and made five postseason appearances (2 NCAA, 3 CBI). The Eagles advanced to the championship series of the CBI in 2015-16, taking Nevada to the final game of the three-game set before falling.

INSIDE MOREHEAD STATE BASKETBALL

Inside Morehead State Basketball, a 30-minute TV program airs each Sunday. The show, hosted and produced by David Patrick, will air at 1 p.m. ET on DIRECTV channel 14, DISH Network channel 28 and Spectrum Cable channel 99. The show features commentary and a look back at previous games with head coach Preston Spradlin, along with fun features highlighting Morehead State's student-athletes and coaching staff.

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