Game Notes

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will look to keep its winning streak going on Saturday, squaring off against Morgan State at the HU Convocation Center at 6 p.m.

The Pirates (5-10, 2-0 MEAC), in their fourth season under head coach Edward Joyner Jr., got their third straight win on Monday with a 70-64 home defeat of Quinnipiac. Redshirt-sophomore forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) led the Pirates with 16 points, as did freshman guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.), the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week.

Powers also had 10 assists, tying his career high, for his second double-double of the season.

The Bears (4-9, 1-1 MEAC) have lost six of their last seven games following Monday's 78-70 double-overtime loss to Savannah State. Junior guard/forward Justin Black and senior forward DeWayne Jackson each had 18 points to lead Morgan State.

The Bears went 9-20 last season, finishing ninth in the MEAC with a mark of 6-10 before falling to Hampton in the first round of the MEAC Tournament. Morgan State, in its seventh season under head coach Todd Bozeman, returns two starters and six letterwinners, and the Bears were picked to finish third in the MEAC this season.

Jackson is one of three Bears averaging double figures in scoring, pouring in a team-high 14.4 points per game. Black is averaging 13.4 points a contest, while junior guard Anthony Hubbard is averaging 12.1 points a night to go along with a team-high 6.7 rebounds a game.

The Bears are averaging 67.7 points a game on offense, while giving up 73.0 points a night.

Since moving up to the Div. I level in 1995, the Pirates are 22-11 against Morgan State and have won three of the last four meetings – including two of three match-ups last season. Prior to that streak, the Bears had won three straight over the Pirates. Hampton had won nine straight in the series from 1999-2003, the longest such streak in the series. The Pirates are 10-3 against Morgan State at home.

Hampton is 201-119 all-time as a Div. I program (since 1995) against teams currently in the MEAC, including a 6-10 mark in the conference last season. So far this season, Hampton is 2-0 in MEAC play, with both wins coming against rival Howard. The Pirates have faced every team currently in the MEAC at least once, including newcomers North Carolina Central and Savannah State.

Since joining the MEAC in 1995, the Pirates have won two regular-season conference titles (2000-01, 2001-02) and four MEAC Tournament crowns (2001, 2002, 2006, 2011).

For his career as a head coach, Joyner is 24-15 at home, and the Pirates were 6-5 at home last season – beating William & Mary, High Point, Howard, South Carolina State, Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore, while losing to Savannah State, Norfolk State, Coppin State, Delaware State, and North Carolina Central.

Hampton defeated Howard 58-50 in its 2012-13 home debut, before falling 66-54 to Robert Morris on Dec. 8, beating American 72-65 on Dec. 18, falling 54-52 to Northern Kentucky on Dec. 20, beating James Madison 69-65 on Jan. 7, and beating Quinnipiac 70-64 on Monday for a 4-2 home mark.

For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.