Box Score
Score: Morgan State 92 | Hartford 84
Location: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Records: Morgan State 10-8, 3-0 | UH 4-16
The short story: Senior guard Isaiah Burke scored 18 of his game- and career-high 31 points in the first half, while Malik Miller added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, as Morgan State defeated Hartford 92-84 in a non-conference matchup Wednesday night at Hill Field House.
OPENING TIP
- Burke connected on11-of-18 from the floor, 2-of-6 from three and converted 7-of-8 from the free throw line for the Bears.
- Miller recorded his 10th double-double of the season as he finished with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting and finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, to go along with five assists and two blocks in 32 minutes.
- Redshirt sophomore guard Will Thomas scored 15 points while going 7-of-14 from the field, and added seven rebounds off the bench.
- The Hawks (4-16) were led by Briggs McClain, who posted 21 points. Pano Pavlidis added 19 points and six rebounds for Hartford. In addition, Michael Dunne had 17 points and two steals and Kurtis Henderson added 13 points and four assists.
THE DIFFERENCE
- Hartford jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the opening moments of tonights matchup ... the Bears responded when Burke hit a jumper as part of an 8-3 spurt to trim the Hawks lead to 12-10 (15:19). Will Thomas hit a 3-pointer to help ignite a 12-2 run over a 3 minute stretch.
- Burke scored on a layup and hit a 3-pointer at the 4:28 mark to give the Bears its largest lead of the half at 40-31, but Hartford scored nine of the next 12 points and just trailed 47-44 at halftime.
- The Bears used a 16-2 run in the second half as the lead ballooned to 68-53 when Thomas finished with a layup with 10:26 remaining. Hartford was able to stay within striking distance when Braxton Jones buried a 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to trim Morgan's lead to 86-79. However, Burke was able to seal the game at the stripe for the Bears as he converted 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch..
- Morgan shot .684 (13-19) from the free throw line, while the Hawks finished 19-for-26 (.731) from the stripe.
- After making five of their first eight three-pointers, Hartford hit just one of its next 14 attempts.
- The Bears out-rebounded the Hawks by a 41-29 margin.
- Morgan shot .563 (36-of-64) from the field, compared to Hartford's .467 (28-of-60). The Bears shot .438 (7-16) from beyond the arc, while the Hawks connected on 9-of-24 (.375) from 3-point range.
- MSU held a 20-11 advantage in second chance scoring.
- The Bears scored 20 points off forcing 13 Hartford turnovers.
NOTABLE
- Saturday night's game improved Morgan's home record to 7-0 this season.
- The Bears are on a 6-game winning streak -- it's longest win streak since 2013 in which they racked up eight consecutive wins.
- Burke notched his third straight game of scoring 30 points and is averaging 29.8 points against MEAC competition ... He has scored 20 or more points in nine games this season, including four games of scoring 30 points.
- Morgan improved its record against Hartford to 2-0; The Bears last defeated Hartford (61-54) on Dec. 30, 2022 in Hartford, Conn.
- Burke eclipsed the 1,000 point mark as a result of his 31 points tonight - he currently have 1,002 career points.
QUOTABLE
Isaiah Burke on his feelings about joining Morgan's 1,000-point club...
- "It feels great... I knew I was a pretty close, but I didn't know exactly how close I was. I was just trying to get the win and they told me at the free throw line. I was concentrating and focused on making them and winning the game, so I'm real happy and proud to get the W... and then I got the 1000 points."