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10 Postseason Foes Highlight 2018-19 Men’s Basketball Schedule

Posted at 8:03 PM, Sep 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-11 19:09:33-04

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Contests against 10 teams who took part in postseason tournaments last year and a pair of four-game homestands in Ohio Valley Conference play highlight the 2018-19 Morehead State men’s basketball schedule.

All home games, plus all OVC road games, will air live on ESPN+. Additional television coverage and game times will be announced a later date. Season tickets can be ordered with the form linked to the this story.

The Eagles will open with an Oct. 25 exhibition against Berea (Ky.) before tipping off the regular season on Nov. 6 versus Kentucky Christian at home. The schedule continues with the 2K Classic where MSU travels to Connecticut (Nov. 8) and Syracuse (Nov. 10), an NCAA participant in 2017-18.

“Right off the bat, we start the season with three games in five days. So it’s nice that we get to start the season at home,” said head coach Preston Spradlin. “The NCAA moved up the schedule for the start of the season, which is important for us here because of the way our semester falls. We want to have as many home games as possible when our students have the opportunity to be there and give us a home court advantage.”

The 2K Classic continues with a game against Missouri-Kansas City (Nov. 16) at Eastern Washington. The Eagles will face either Green Bay or EWU the next day. EWU was in the CBI last year.

“We inherited the inclusion in the 2K Classic with our run in the CBI a few years ago, and that will give us an opportunity to have a couple of good tests on the road at UConn and Syracuse. Both will really get us prepared for the rest of our non-conference season.

“We’ll make the long trek out to Eastern Washington to play two quality games,” said Spradlin. “And then with that travel, we were able to build in a week where we are at home. It will be nice to rest our bodies and have Thanksgiving here in Morehead this year.”

Additional non-conference home games include Lipscomb (Nov. 25), Northern Kentucky (Nov. 27) and Ohio-Chillicothe (Nov. 30). Lipscomb was an NCAA Tournament team, while NKU was in the NIT. The Ohio-Chillicothe game is the Education Day game at 11 a.m. The Eagles will also entertain IUPUI (Dec. 21).

“Nov. 30 should be exciting as we celebrate the youth of our community and bring in all the surrounding schools,” said Spradlin.

Road non-conference battles include Marshall (Dec. 10), Samford (Dec. 13), Wright State (Dec. 18) and Missouri (Dec. 29). Missouri and Wright State were in the NCAA field of 68 last year.

“Obviously Marshall is always a rivalry game, and they are coming off a terrific year in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “We have started a series with Samford, and then we’ll play two more NCAA Tournament teams in Wright State ad Missouri, so our schedule continues to be challenging heading into conference play.”

The OVC slate features two four-game homestands and a four-game road swing to open it. The Eagles will host Southeast Missouri (Jan. 17), UT Martin (Jan. 19), Tennessee Tech (Jan. 24) and Jacksonville State (Jan. 26) before also entertaining Tennessee State (Feb. 7), Belmont (Feb. 9), Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 14) and Austin Peay (Feb. 16) for the homestands.

The conference ledger begins with a four-game road trip out to Murray State (Jan. 3), Austin Peay (Jan. 5), Belmont (Jan. 10) and Tennessee State (Jan. 12).

The Eagles also host Murray State (Feb. 28) for the home finale and have road contests at SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 31), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 2), Jacksonville State (Feb. 21), Tennessee Tech (Feb. 23) and Eastern Kentucky (March 2).

Austin Peay and Jacksonville State both took part in the postseason in 2017-18, and Murray State was in the NCAA Tournament.

The OVC Tournament is once again in Evansville, Ind., at the Ford Center and is set for March 6-9.