GAME NOTES
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- After defeating Mississippi College and then falling to Auburn-Montgomery last week, the Delta State University men's basketball team returns home to take on the University of Montevallo for Senior Day. DSU will honor a pair of seniors, Cam Burkett and Anderson McCoy, before the game on Saturday. Tip off against UM is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Philip Tang will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network (WMJW 107.5 FM) and worldwide at GoStatesmen.com.
INSIDE THE UM SERIES: Saturday's matchup is the 20th meeting all-time between the Statesmen and Falcons. The Statesmen faced Montevallo back on November 23, in the sixth game of the season, and the first in Gulf South Conference action. Montevallo won the game 76-61. It was the first game for the Statesmen without Cameron Burkett and Zach Varnum due to injury. Keyshaun Street led the Statesmen with 18 points, while Airen Brooks added 15 points. The Falcons were led by Jonas Parker with 25 points and Wade Lowman had 20 points. In that first meeting, UM outscored DSU 46-24 in the paint. Montevallo is 12-15 on the season and 8-11 in GSC play and are locked into the eighth seed in the GSC tournament. The Falcons have struggled as of late, as they have lost 10 of their last 11 games. They are scoring 69 points per game while giving up 72 points a game. Wade Lowman leads the charge for Montevallo 15.1 ppg and 6.8 rebounds per game.
SENIOR DAY: Graduate-transfer Anderson McCoy and Senior Cam Burkett will be recognized on Senior Day. McCoy has spent one season with the Statesmen after transferring from UAB this offseason. McCoy is averaging 11.7 ppg while also dishing out 97 assists this season as the catalyst of the Delta State offense. In 23 games played he has just 51 turnovers while averaging 38.8 minutes a game. Cam Burkett has played for three seasons for the Statesmen after transferring from Bossier Parish Community College. He has played in 87 games with 31 starts for DSU. He has averaged 4.1 points per game and has made 58 three-pointers in his career.
STREET LEADING STATESMEN OFFENSE: Delta State enters Saturday's game with the Falcons averaging 70.8 points per game thanks to the play of junior shooting guard Keyshaun Street. Street leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Junior forward Airen Brooks continues to pace DSU, averaging 14.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. The Phenix City, Ala., native, and former Shelton State CC standout is 1st in the Gulf South Conference in rebounding while ranking 11th in FG percentage (46.7). In 12 starts, Brooks has recorded 11 double-doubles.
CARTWRIGHT CLIMBING: Freshman center Maalik Cartwright has continued to improve. He is now averaging 10.8 ppg while pulling down 6.8 rebounds per game. He was named GSC Freshman of the Week for the week of February 23rd. This was the fourth consecutvie week he has been named GSC Freshman of the Week. This past week, he recorded 17 points and eight rebounds against Mississippi College and had a team-high 27 points in the loss to AUM last Saturday.
