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Men's Basketball Hungry to Prove It Belongs Among the Nation's Best

MSU Athletics

Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin prefers his team not be labeled as a potential Cinderella team in this year's NCAA Tournament. No, he prefers if a "slipper" fits that it be more of a work boot.

The Eagles' hard work has gotten them into their first NCAA Tournament since 2011, with the 14th-seeded Eagles facing third-seeded West Virginia in the Midwest Region Friday at 9:50 p.m. ET.

MSU and WVU will battle in Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of the Final Four. The game will take place on the south court.

The game can be seen on TruTV as well as on the March Madness app. It will be broadcast locally with Chuck Mraz and Tom Lewis on the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety Eagle Sports Radio Network on WIVY-96.3 FM and also on WKYN-107.7 FM. It will also be live nationally on Westwood One Radio (Sirius channel 135 or XM channel 202).

Morehead State is the lone program from the state of Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles rank number one in the state of ALL schools on ALL levels with 23 wins. The last time no teams from the Bluegrass played in the NCAA Tournament was 1963.

Morehead State put together the largest turnaround in the nation in a pair of rating systems. The Eagles had a +188 improvement in KenPom rankings and boast a +206 NET ranking improvement since 2019-20.

Johni Broome ranks ninth in the nation in double-doubles (13) and enters the nation's elite college basketball event with four straight double-doubles and five in the last six games. Eleven of his 13 double-doubles came versus league opponents.

Junior guard DeVon Cooper enters the NCAA Tournament with a successful free throw streak at 26 straight. Cooper hasn't missed a free toss since Feb. 25 at Tennessee State. He was 16-of-16 in the three OVC Tournament games, including 4-for-4 in the final 18 seconds in the semifinal win over Eastern Kentucky.

Morehead State set program records for OVC wins (17) and OVC road wins (8) and defeated every OVC team at least once since the NCAA Tournament team of 2010-11

Wright State transfer Skyelar Potter saved the best for the final 10 games of the season. Potter has produced four double-doubles in the past 10 games and scored in double figures in 10 of his final 13 games. Potter joined Johni Broome and DeVon Cooper on the OVC All-Tournament Team. He leads the Eagles with 57 three-pointers and has hit 38 percent from outside.

Top 40 National Statistical Categories: Total Blocks (3rd), Total Rebounds (9th), Blocked Shots Per Game (13th), FG% Defense (30th), Rebound Margin (26th), Scoring Defense (26th), 3pt FG% Defense (37th), Free Throw Attempts (18th), Free Throws Made (30th), Total Assists (35th), Win-Lost Percentage (22nd).

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