Game Notes

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team will finish an incredible regular season with a home game against in-state rivals Morgan State Bears. UMES (17-13, 10-5) hosts Senior Night at W.P. Hytche Athletic Center with tip-off moved to 4 p.m. with an incoming winter storm.

The Hawks bring a three-game winning streak into Thursday's matchup with Morgan State. UMES clinched a first-round bye in the MEAC Tournament with a 69-65 victory at Delaware State on Saturday. The Hawks exacted some revenge for a Homecoming loss to their archrivals by spoiling the Hornets' Alumni Day. With 17 victories, UMES has now recorded more wins than any season since 1980-81. One more victory would secure the Hawks' highest win total since the fabled 1973-74 season that saw a MEAC championship and an NIT appearance.

UMES will go for a season sweep against Morgan State, the first sweep over their in-state rivals since the 2011-12 season. Back in Baltimore on January 12, the Hawks topped the Bears by a final score of 78-53. Playing in his hometown, junior guard Devin Martin scored 26 points, one shy of his career-best as a Hawk. UMES holds a slim advantage in the all-time series, 59 to 57.

The Bears have struggled this season to a 7-22 overall record, and 5-10 in conference play in a tie for eleventh place. Morgan State takes care of the ball extremely well, committing just 10.4 giveaways per game, by far the best mark in the MEAC. As a result, the Bears easily have the best turnover margin in the league at +3.48 turnovers per contest. Still, the Bears' offense has sputtered due to poor shooting. Morgan State currently shoots 35.4% from the floor and 28.5% from the three-point line, both marks about ten percentage points below the Hawks' shooting clips.

Thursday will be Senior Night for several Hawks playing in their final home game at W.P. Hytche Center. UMES will honor six players, with the four seniors Mike Myers, Ishaq Pitt, Isaac Smith and Devon Walker. Juniors Travis Trim and Iman Johnson will be honored as well, as they are on pace to graduate this year. Myers continues to grab headlines, as he has been featured as a finalist for National Mid-Major Player of the Year on both CollegeInsider.com and CollegeCourtReport.com.

The playoff scenarios for UMES are rather simple at this point in the season. UMES has already clinched a first-round bye in the MEAC Tournament, no matter the result on Thursday. The Hawks would need to beat Morgan State, and Norfolk State to lose to Hampton, in order to jump into second place. If both UMES and Norfolk State wins, UMES will be the 3-seed as the only team at 11-5. If the Hawks were to lose and drop to 10-6, UMES would still finish as the 3-seed thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Howard Bison.

Tip-off is scheduled 4:00 p.m. after the administration moved the doubleheader up two and a half hours due to an incoming winter storm. The men's game will start approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's basketball game between the two schools. Hawks fans can listen to both games on the Hawks Radio Network, powered by SFMSports.net. The men's game will air on Fox Sports 960 AM in Salisbury, Md. with Doug Newton and Dave Byrd on the call.