Morgan State University men’s basketball team has routinely struggled in the first half of their games this season.

In the team’s last five games, they’ve been down at the end of the first half and have consistently been outscored by opponents 190-143. Bears head coach Kevin Broadus said that if his team defends and gets rebounds early on in the game, they will win. 

“We gotta play together and defend better,” he said. “We gotta take good shots against the zone and not always take threes. We gotta defend and rebound better. That’s the main message for the next couple of games.”

Offensively, the Bears have struggled to shoot the ball from the three-point line in the first half of their games –  they shot 1 for 6 from beyond the arc in their last game against the Delaware State Hornets.

Junior guard Kamron Hobbs says that the team’s desire for consistency and energy has to be high at the start of the game. 

“When we are hitting shots to start the game everything is good, it’s about when we’re missing because the energy and fight are there,” he said. “The early turnovers, fouls, and long missed shots start to kill your energy and fight because you constantly have to get back on defense.” 

In the Bears’ last two games, they have turned the ball over 17 times in the first half. Broadus believes that the team needs to have a confident mindset going into their games.

“It’s all preparation. The days before, the mindset on the day of the game,” he said. “You can’t come out and get ready, you have to be ready and that’s the main thing. We have to come out with a sense of urgency from the start when we play games.”

The Bears will face off against the Howard University Bison at Howard’s Burr Gymnasium Saturday at 4 p.m.