2022–23 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team

The 2022–23 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented Morehead State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at Ellis Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. With a victory against Eastern Illinois on February 22, 2023, the Eagles clinched their first outright OVC regular season title since 1984.^[1][2] They lost to Southeast Missouri State in the OVC tournament semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Eagles received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, the school's first trip to the NIT. There they upset No. 1-seed Clemson in the first round before being losing to UAB in the second round.

2022–23 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball
Ohio Valley regular season champions
NIT, Second Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	22–12 (14–4 OVC)
Head coach	Preston Spradlin (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Scott Combs Dominic Lombardi Cason Burk
Home arena	Ellis Johnson Arena
Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

2022–23 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Morehead State	14	–	4		.778			22	–	12		.647
Tennessee Tech	11	–	7		.611			16	–	17		.485
UT Martin	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Tennessee State	10	–	8		.556			18	–	14		.563
Southeast Missouri State †	10	–	8		.556			19	–	17		.528
SIU Edwardsville	9	–	9		.500			19	–	14		.576
Southern Indiana*	9	–	9		.500			16	–	17		.485
Lindenwood*	6	–	12		.333			11	–	21		.344
Little Rock	6	–	12		.333			10	–	21		.323
Eastern Illinois	5	–	13		.278			9	–	22		.290
* ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2023 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2021–22 season 23–11, 13–5 in OVC play to finish in third place. They defeated Tennessee Tech^[3] and Belmont,^[4] before falling to Murray State in the championship game of the OVC tournament.^[5]

Roster

2022–23 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Mark Freeman 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Illinois State Memphis, Tennessee G 1 Tucson Redding 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Aurora, Colorado G 2 Jordan Lathon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) GS Milwaukee Grandview, Missouri G 3 Drew Thelwell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So The Master's Academy Orlando, Florida G 4 Jalen Hawkins 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Norfolk State Bronx, New York G 5 Branden Maughmer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Cedarville Chillicothe, Ohio G 10 Brady Dingess 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Martin County High School (KY) Inez, Kentucky G 11 Trent Scott 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Alonso High School Tampa, Florida G 12 Julian Norris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Link Academy Evansville, Indiana G 14 Chris Cole 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr Brookwood High School Lawrenceville, Georgia G 15 Kalil Thomas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr UMass Lowell New Orleans, Louisiana G 20 Cole Villers 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Ashland Blazer High School Ashland, Kentucky F 21 Reis Jones 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Flint Hill School Oxon Hill, Maryland F 22 LJ Bryan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr State Fair Community College Cheltenham, Maryland G 24 Jake Wolfe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Lipscomb Aurora, Illinois F 45 Alex Gross 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) GS Olivet Nazarene Hope, Indiana	Head coach Preston Spradlin (Alice Lloyd) Assistant coach(es) Scott Combs (Austin Peay) Dominic Lombardi (Indiana (PA)) Cason Burk (Jackson State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 22, 2022

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2022* 7:00 pm, BTN+		at No. 13 Indiana	L 53–88	0–1	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN
November 10, 2022* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		CU–Harrodsburg	W 99–58	1–1	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,011) Morehead, KY
November 12, 2022* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		Bellarmine	W 62–55	2–1	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,166) Morehead, KY
November 15, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at West Virginia	L 57–75	2–2	WVU Coliseum (9,417) Morgantown, WV
November 18, 2022* 7:00 pm, SECN+		at Vanderbilt	L 43–76	2–3	Memorial Gymnasium (5,732) Nashville, TN
November 22, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Kentucky State	W 114–49	3–3	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,356) Morehead, KY
November 26, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Marshall	L 59–83	3–4	Cam Henderson Center (4,315) Huntington, WV
November 29, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Kentucky Christian	W 109–62	4–4	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,606) Morehead, KY
December 3, 2022* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		North Alabama	L 75–81	4–5	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,745) Morehead, KY
December 11, 2022* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		East Tennessee State	W 61–57	5–5	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,565) Morehead, KY
December 14, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Georgia Southern	W 74–71	6–5	Hanner Fieldhouse (501) Statesboro, GA
December 17, 2022* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Mercer	L 52–79	6–6	Hawkins Arena (1,572) Macon, GA
December 21, 2022* 12:00 pm, ESPN+		Alice Lloyd	W 66–50	7–6	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,065) Morehead, KY
Ohio Valley regular season
December 29, 2022 9:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee State	W 83–75	8–6 (1–0)	Gentry Complex (437) Nashville, TN
December 31, 2022 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at UT Martin	L 57–64	8–7 (1–1)	Skyhawk Arena (1,302) Union City, TN
January 5, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Indiana	W 84–80	9–7 (2–1)	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,655) Morehead, KY
January 7, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Illinois	W 69–59	10–7 (3–1)	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,464) Morehead, KY
January 12, 2023 8:30 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	L 62–79	10–8 (3–2)	Eblen Center (1,085) Cookeville, TN
January 14, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	L 86–91	10–9 (3–3)	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,740) Morehead, KY
January 19, 2023 8:30 pm, ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville	W 67–58	11–9 (4–3)	First Community Arena (1,334) Edwardsville, IL
January 21, 2023 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at Lindenwood	W 72–63	12–9 (5–3)	Hyland Performance Arena (1,211) St. Charles, MO
January 26, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Little Rock	W 76–72	13–9 (6–3)	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,557) Morehead, KY
January 28, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+		SIU Edwardsville	W 55–50	14–9 (7–3)	Ellis Johnson Arena (1,880) Morehead, KY
February 2, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee Tech	W 64–45	15–9 (8–3)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,055) Morehead, KY
February 4, 2023 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Indiana	W 71–66 ^OT	16–9 (9–3)	Screaming Eagles Arena (3,644) Evansville, IN
February 9, 2023 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Little Rock	L 68–72	16–10 (9–4)	Jack Stephens Center (2,601) Little Rock, AR
February 11, 2023 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	W 65–59	17–10 (10–4)	Show Me Center (2,890) Cape Girardeau, MO
February 16, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee State	W 74–64	18–10 (11–4)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,468) Morehead, KY
February 18, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Lindenwood	W 71–58	19–10 (12–4)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,788) Morehead, KY
February 22, 2023 8:30 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Illinois	W 69–63	20–10 (13–4)	Lantz Arena (1,625) Charleston, IL
February 25, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+		UT Martin	W 72–58	21–10 (14–4)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,672) Morehead, KY
Ohio Valley tournament
March 3, 2023 8:00 pm, ESPNU	(1)	vs. (5) Southeast Missouri State Semifinals	L 58–65	21–11	Ford Center  Evansville, IN
NIT
March 15, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at (1) Clemson First Round – Clemson Bracket	W 68–64	22–11	Littlejohn Coliseum (2,697) Clemson, SC
March 19, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at (4) UAB Second Round – Clemson Bracket	L 59–77	22–12	Bartow Arena (2,624) Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources^[6][7]

References

1. "Champions! Men's Hoops Shoots 52 Percent From Deep, Secures Outright OVC Title With Win at EIU". Morehead State University Athletics. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
2. "Morehead State ends 39-year men's basketball drought. All it took was a total makeover". MSN. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
3. "2022 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - Quarterfinals". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
4. "Men's Hoops Heads To Championship Game Again With Defensive Thriller Victory in Semis". Morehead State University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
5. "Murray State Wins 2022 OVC Men's Basketball Championship Presented by TicketSmarter". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
6. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Schedule". Morehead State University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
7. "2022-23 Morehead State Eagles Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 22, 2022.