The 2016–17 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team represented

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

during the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...

. The Eagles, led by interim head coach Preston Spradlin, played their home games at

Ellis Johnson Arena Ellis T. Johnson Arena is a 6,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. Located in the Academic-Athletic Center on the campus of Morehead State University, it is the home to the Morehead State Eagles men's and women's bas ...

Morehead, Kentucky Morehead is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city located along U.S. Route 60 in Kentucky, US 60 (the historic Midland Trail) and Interstate 64 in Kentucky, Interstate 64 in Rowan County, Kentucky, Rowan County, Kentucky, in the United ...

as members of the East Division of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

. The Eagles finished the season 14–16, 10–6 in OVC play to finish in second place in the East Division. In the OVC tournament they lost to

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

in the quarterfinals. On November 22, 2016, Morehead State suspended head coach

Sean Woods Sean Woods (born March 29, 1970) is an American former basketball player and former head coach for the Southern Jaguars basketball team. Playing career Woods attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis before playing college basketball at ...

with pay while the school investigated complaints made against Woods. Assistant coach Preston Spradlin was named interim head coach. On December 15, two days after Woods was charged with misdemeanor battery in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

for allegedly assaulting two of his players during a game versus

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

, it was announced that Woods had resigned. It was announced that Spradlin would continue as interim coach while the school conducted a nationwide search for a replacement. On March 16, 2017, Spradlin was named full-time head coach.

Previous season

The

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

finished the 2015–16 season 23–14, 11–5 in OVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the East Division. They defeated

in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to UT Martin. They were invited to the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

where they defeated

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

Duquesne __NOTOC__ Duquesne or Duchesne ( , ; old spelling Du Quesne, American spelling DuQuesne) is a family name derived from a northern dialectal form of French (Norman and Picard) meaning ''du chêne'' in French ("of the oak"). The anglicization of t ...

, and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to advance to the best-of-three finals series against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. In the finals, they lost the CIT championship two games to one.

Preseason

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors, Morehead State was picked to finish third in the East Division of the OVC. Xavier Moon was selected to the All-OVC Preseason Team.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Ohio Valley Conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Ohio Valley tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Morehead State Eagles men's basketball team Morehead State Eagles men's basketball seasons

Morehead State Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...