SOUTH BEND, IND – Three Coppin State players scored in double figures during its 104-67 loss to the University of Notre Dame in a non-conference contest at the Purcell Pavilion Wednesday night.
For the second time in three games on this road trip,
Arnold Fripp led Coppin State in scoring. Fripp led the Eagles on this road trip with a 12.3 point per game average. He finished with 14 points.
Sterling Smith added a season-high 12 points on a quartet of 3-pointers for the Eagles (0-3 overall).
Taariq Cephas chipped in with 11 points for Coppin State.
Making his first career start,
Lawrence Fejokwu scored eight points and
Shomari Triggs scored a season-best seven points. Coppin State made eight 3-pointers and shot 51.5 percent in the second half. Five Eagles finished with at least two assists with Smith leading the way with four.
"Notre Dame did a great job of taking care of the ball and making their open shots," Coppin State first-year coach
Michael Grant said. "We have to keep playing no matter what the score is.
I thought the second half was the best we played this season. That was encouraging and hopefully we can continue building from there."
The Eagles were hurt by a slow start in which Notre Dame scored the first 14 points of the game. Overall, Notre Dame shot 20-for-28 in the opening 20 minutes. The Fighting Irish had five players finish in double figures led by Zach Auguste's career-best 21 points on 9-for-9 shooting. V.J. Beachem had 19 points for Notre Dame (3-0). He was 5-for-6 from 3-point distance.
"We played better as a team in the second half," Fripp said. "We calmed down, got more stops, rebounded the ball better and played the way we wanted to play. Even though we're 0-3, we have to keep working hard as a group and keep our heads up high. We still have 26 games left in our season."
Coppin State finishes its four-game road trip Sunday afternoon when it visits the University of Denver at 3:00 p.m. Notre Dame will participate in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic Saturday in Uncasville (Ct.) against Massachusetts Saturday afternoon.
