Game #31
Lindenwood (9-21, 3-14 OVC)
at Morehead State (22-8, 13-4 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024
Location: Morehead, Ky.
Venue: Johnson Arena
Tip-Off: 2:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 0-2
Last Meeting: L, 58-71
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: Watch

Matchup
The Lindenwood men's basketball team concludes their 2024 season on Saturday as they take on the current No. 1 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Morehead State. Lindenwood improved their OVC record on Thursday after defeating Southern Indiana.

The Lions won their second away OVC game of the season on Thursday after defeating USI by a final score of 67-63. Lindenwood had four players in double-figures including a career-high 18 points from Nathan Johnson Jr. Darius Beane's layup with 14 seconds left sealed the win for the Lions.

Morehead State currently is in a three-way tie for first place before the OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. with a 13-4 conference record. The Eagles are on a two-game win streak after dropping three games including a 72-50 win over SEMO on Thursday. This marks the only matchup between the Lions and Eagles this season.

During OVC competition, the Lions are averaging 64.2 ppg which ranks 11th among all OVC teams. They are shooting 39.4% during those games which also ranks 11th. Throughout the entire season, LU is averaging 65.7 points a game behind the Lion's two leading scorers Keenon Cole (18.1 ppg) and Darius Beane (12.4 ppg). The duo combines for 45.5% of Lindenwood's scoring.

To begin the season, the Lions were picked to finish 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference as they begin their second Division I season in program history under head coach Kyle Gerdeman.

Player to Watch
Nathan Johnson Jr. has been a spark off the Lions bench as of late scoring in double-digits in his last two games. In the win over Southern Indiana, Johnson scored a career-high 18 points off the bench while shooting 6-11 from the field including 2-2 from long range. He is averaging 10.8 points per game over his last four contests.

On the season, Johnson has averaged 3.9 points per game while pulling down 2.2 rebounds. He is one of four Lions to play in all 30 games this season.

OVC Preseason Rankings
In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2023-24 season. It marks the second-straight year the Eagles have been tabbed the favorites.
 
The Eagles picked up 20 of 22 first-place votes (teams could not vote for themselves); Tennessee State picked up the other votes.  MSU tallied 200 points and was followed by SIUE (162), who was picked second. Tennessee State (153) was picked third and followed by UT Martin (149), Southeast Missouri (124), Tennessee Tech (120), Little Rock (85), Western Illinois (80), Southern Indiana (63), Lindenwood (40) and Eastern Illinois (34).

Scouting Morehead State
The Eagles are led by seventh-year head coach Preston Spraldin who has 13-years of Division I coaching experiencing. Since become the full-time head coach, Spraldin has had four-straight 20+ win season and an overall record of 124-99.

Morehead State is led by three double-figure scorers including a team high 20.4 ppg from Riley Minix who ranks second in the OVC in scoring. He has been held under 10 points only once this season with three 30+ games.

Head Coach: Kyle Gerdeman
Kyle Gerdeman enters his fifth year at the helm of the Lindenwood men's basketball program in the 2023-24 season. The Lions concluded their inaugural Division I season in 2022-23 where Gerdeman led the Lions to an appearances in the OVC Tournament after a wild finish to the season.

The Lions took down in-state rival Southeast Missouri State in double-overtime to keep their postseason hopes alive.  In the final game of the regular season, Lindenwood needed a win to move on, and Kevin Caldwell Jr. answered the call with a game-winning bucket in overtime.

Lindenwood led the OVC in free-throw percentage (75.6), and was second in the OVC in three-point percentage (39.1).  Chris Childs held the top spot in the league with a free-throw percentage of 92.7, while Keenon Cole was atop the OVC with a three-point percentage of 51.0 percent.  The Lions clawed their way to three overtime wins on the season.  Lindenwood also posted two comeback victories from 20 points down, and another 17-point comeback during OVC play.