Jacksonville State faces Morehead State on Saturday, January 9th at Ellis T. Johnson Arena for an NCAA basketball matchup in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Jacksonville State is coming off a 69-66 loss in overtime to Eastern Kentucky on the road on January 7th. Jacksonville State's loss to EKU snapped a four-game win streak that started on December 13th. Jacksonville State is now 7-3 on the year and 3-1 in conference play out of the OVC. Jacksonville State opened conference play with two wins over Tennessee Tech and a win over UT Martin as well. Jacksonville State's leading scorer so far this season has been G Darian Adams, who has scored 13.9 points per game for the Gamecocks. Jacksonville State as a team has scored 74.6 points per game and has shot the ball at a 44.1% clip from the field. Jacksonville State has also allowed 64.5 points per game to its opponents as well.
Morehead State is coming off a 57-54 win over Tennessee Tech in its last game on January 7th at home. Morehead State has now won back-to-back games in conference play. Morehead State is 6-6 overall and 3-2 in conference play as well. Morehead State lost to this Jacksonville State team two times last season in Ohio Valley play, one by four points and the other by 21. Morehead State's leading scorer so far this season has been G DeVon Cooper, who has scored 10.8 points per game for the Eagles this season. Morehead State as a team has scored 63.1 points per game and has shot the ball at a 43.1% clip from the field. Morehead State has also allowed 65.8 points per game to its opponents as well.
Jacksonville State opens as a 1.5-point favorite and the total is set at 126. I like Jacksonville State to rebound from a tough loss to Eastern Kentucky and take down this Morehead State team. Jacksonville State has owned Morehead State recently, and I think that trend continues.