EUGENE, OR – The Coppin State men's basketball team opened its 2014-15 season with a 107-65 loss to the University of Oregon Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena in a non-conference contest.
Coppin State (0-1 overall) was led by seniors
Arnold Fripp and
Jahvari Josiah, who reached double figures in scoring. Fripp scored a team-high 16 points for the Eagles and Josiah added 11 points.
Taariq Cephas added nine points and a team-high six rebounds for the Eagles.
Both teams combined to make 26 3-pointers. The Eagles made many of their 12 early in the game while Oregon was hot throughout from beyond the arc. Fripp and Cephas combined for half of Coppin State's 3-pointers.
Coppin State swooshed to an 11-2 lead less than four minutes into the game following 3-pointers from Brickhouse, Cephas and Fripp. By the first media timeout, Coppin State had 19 points, drained five 3-pointers while shooting a torrid 70 percent. The Eagles led 24-20 with 12:24 remaining in the opening half.
"We came out with a lot of energy," first-year Coppin State coach
Michael Grant said. "We have a long season and this one behind us. This is a learning experience for us. They have to learn me and I still have to learn them."
Unfortunately for Coppin State the good times didn't last thanks to Oregon senior guard Joseph Young, who scored 25 of his game-high 32 points in the first half. He fueled an Oregon surge to finish the first half. Young was 11-for-14 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point distance.
While Young was making shots, Coppin couldn't make anything. The last 11 minutes of the first half were gruesome for the Eagles. Oregon ended the first half by scoring 33 of the final 34 points, including 28 straight during one stretch. Coppin State missed 13 consecutive shots and had five turnovers while not scoring for an 8 minute, 19 second stretch of the first half.
Coppin State, which made eight of its first 12 shots from the field, was 2-for-20 over the next 13 1/2 minutes.
"The first half hurt us when we couldn't score," Grant said. We had good looks and the ball went in-and-out. We just couldn't knock down shots. We have to do a better job defensively. If things aren't working for us offensively, then we have to make it tougher on them. It's going to be tough to beat teams when they shoot close to 70 percent."
Coppin State returns to action Sunday when it visits Illinois at the State Farm Center beginning at 5:00 p.m.
