Men's Basketball | 12/2/2016 4:26:00 PM

Braves Continue Road Swing with Two Games in Three Days at Cal, LA Tech

Alcorn Game Notes

BERKELEY, Calif. – Continuing its six-game road stretch, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program will take on California at 3 p.m. (CT) Saturday at Haas Pavilion, and Louisiana Tech at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
The Braves (2-4) have been led by a trio of double-figure scorers. Senior Marquis Vance has guided the way with 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while junior Reginal Johnson comes off the bench to record 12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per outing. Senior Denzel Dulin also aids the attack with 11.2 points per contest.
 
In Alcorn's last outing, it dropped a 78-65 decision to San Francisco on Wednesday evening. The Braves trailed by just eight points at the under-eight media timeout but could not get any closer. Johnson tallied season-highs of 15 points and nine rebounds.
 
Cal (5-1) is coming off a 68-59 overtime victory over Louisiana Tech (3-3) on Wednesday. The Bears also have wins this year over South Dakota State 82-53, UC Irvine 75-65 (OT), Wyoming 71-61 and Southeastern Louisiana 67-55. Their only loss came on a neutral court against San Diego State 77-65.
 
Charlie Moore leads the team with 20.0 points per game and shoots .433 (13-30) from long-range. Ivan Rabb averages a double-double with 18.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per outing. Grant Mullins also averages in double-figures with 10.2 points per contest.
 
LA Tech has defeated Alabama State 87-56, Oklahoma Baptist 79-63 and Maryland-Eastern Shore 74-53. In addition to Cal, the Bulldogs have also fallen to South Carolina 85-76 and Nebraska 65-54.
 
The Bulldogs will host Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday before Alcorn comes in Monday.
 
LA Tech uses a smaller rotation but has five students averaging in double-figures including Erik Mooree (13.8 ppg), Jacobi Boykins (13.7 ppg), Jalen Harris (11.3 ppg), Omar Sherman (10.7 ppg) and Derric Jean (10.5 ppg). The Bulldogs carry a +6.5 scoring margin, +3.2 turnover margin and a +1.3 rebounding margin over their opposition on the year.
 
Alcorn's game against Cal will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
NOTES
- During the six-game road swing, the Braves are playing games in four different time zones (pacific, mountain, central and eastern time). Alcorn has a 30-day layover between home games.
 
- Prior to the road trip beginning, Alcorn posted back-to-back home wins over Selma 93-48 and Blue Mountain 83-57. The Braves never trailed in either game and won their home opener for the sixth year in a row. Alcorn shot a season-high .558 (29-52) as a team from the field against BMC.
 
- The Braves are looking for their first non-conference win over a Division I school since Nov. 22, 2012 when they defeated Samford 69-65. Prior to that, the Braves beat Jacksonville State 70-68 on Dec. 13, 2003 and UTEP 67-53 on Nov. 26, 2002.
 
- Vance ranks second in the SWAC in blocks (1.4 bpg). He's scored in double-figures in five out of six games this season and posted a double-double in the season opener at Loyola-Chicago.
 
- Johnson is coming off five consecutive double-figure scoring games.  He ranks second in the SWAC in field goal percentage (.547). Johnson has been used primarily as Alcorn's sixth man so far this year and has grabbed least five rebounds in every game.
 
- Junior Avery Patterson has provided a big spark for Alcorn. After missing the first two games, he came back and scored 14 points in his first two contests back. He's been red-hot from long-distance as he's 6-for-11 from beyond-the-arc on the year.
 
- Another hot three-point shooter for the Braves has been freshman Maurice Howard. He's made 10-of-21 attempts which ranks fourth in the SWAC and has also started every game.
 
- Dulin made 13 free throws against Colorado State. It's the most by any student-athlete in a single-game this year in the SWAC. Dulin scored a career-high 20 points in the game which upped his previous best of 16 set in the game before against Blue Mountain.
 
- The Braves have been playing without starting center senior DeAndre Davis due to a hand injury. Davis finished third in the SWAC in both field goal percentage (.584) and offensive rebounding (2.5 orpg) last season.
 
- On the season, the Braves lead the SWAC in assists (13.3 apg), assist:turnover ratio (1.0), rebounding margin (+3.3), defensive rebounds (25.4 drpg) and defensive rebounding percentage (.751). They are second in the conference in scoring defense (67.2 ppg), rebounding offense (38.4), blocks (4.2 bpg) and three-pointers made per game (7.0).
 
#FearTheBrave