Keith
Walker
The Delaware State University men’s basketball team is racking up the miles.
The Hornets will play a game in their eighth different state of the season tonight when they face Big 10 opponent Iowa at 9 p.m. They have lost five of their last six to fall to 3-10 on the season.
The Hornets have never defeated a team from the Big 10 and are 0-33 all-time against the conference.
Delaware State has played 10 of their 13 games on the road this year. They have traveled to Montana, Texas, New York, Maryland, Louisiana and Indiana to go along with their three home games in Delaware plus another at the University of Delaware.
This will be the second consecutive matchup against a Big 10 team for DelState. It fell to Indiana at Assembly Hall on Monday night when the Hoosiers routed DSU 103-56.
“We ran into one of them Hoosier buzzsaws,” said DSU coach Keith Walker.
The Iowa game is the third of a six-game road trip for the Hornets. It started with a loss to Binghamton on Saturday night and will end with a visit to Hawaii Dec. 29 and back-to-back road games to begin the MEAC season at North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central.
The Hornets’ next home game is Jan. 14 against Hampton.
Delaware State started the season with back-to-back home games before an eight-game road trip during which the Hornets went 1-7. They played Division III Keystone College at home before this current six-game trip.
“This is where we come together as a team and find out who is riding for us and who is not,” said senior guard DeAndre Haywood before the Hornets left Dover. “We’ve got to build a bond and start executing like coach wants.”
The Hornets have only beaten one Division I opponent this year. They upset St. John’s on Nov. 29, 79-72, which was the first time they defeated an opponent from the Big East Conference.
Devin Morgan has been DSU’s leading scorer with 12.9 points per game. Three other Hornets are averaging double-figures — Kavon Waller (11.2 ppg), Haywood (10.4) and Polytech High product DeVaughn Mallory (10.0).