HARTFORD – Coppin State's
Arnold Fripp and
Christian Kessee delivered career-high scoring performances during a 106-85 loss to reigning NCAA champion Connecticut in a men's basketball non-conference contest at the XL Center Sunday.
Overall, Coppin State (1-9 overall) received double figures scoring from four players for the second consecutive game. In tying a season-high with 15 three-pointers, the Eagles made 46.9 percent of their shots from that distance, which was also a season-best.
Fripp burned the nets for 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. He made his first four shot attempts, which were all three-pointers. He was 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, a career high from that area.
"I think this was one of the best efforts we had as a team this season," Fripp said. "We fought all the way through today. It was just the first five minutes of each half that dug a hole for us. If we can sustain this defensive effort for a full game, keep hitting open shots and cut down our turnovers, we'll give ourselves an opportunity to win some games."
Fripp also led the Eagles with nine rebounds, the second time this season, he finished with that many rebounds in a game. He had nine boards against Denver on Nov. 23. For Fripp it was the seventh time this season and 17th time in his career, he's scored in double figures.
Fripp had plenty of offensive support in the form of 22 points from Kessee. He made five three-pointers and was 7-of-13 shooting the ball overall.
Senior guard
Daquan Brickhouse scored all 16 of his points in the second half as the Eagles shot 51.5 percent during that 20-minute period.
Brickhouse supplemented his effort with a team best seven assists, which is the third time during his two years in a Coppin State uniform that he handed out that many dimes in a single game. The Eagles had a season-high 18 assists. Brickhouse also added a game-high four steals in 28 entertaining minutes.
Junior guard
Sterling Smith finished with 12 points, including a two-handed breakaway dunk in the second half. For Smith it was the fourth time in his last five games that he's hit for 10 or more points.
While the Eagles made 45.5 percent of their shots overall, they had no answer for Connecticut center Amida Brimah, who made all 13 of his shots en route to a career-high 40 points. Standing three inches taller than anybody on the Eagles' roster, Brimah also contributed 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Ryan Boatright scored 22 points for the Huskies, who ended a three-game losing streak with the victory. UConn improved its overall record to 4-3.
"I thought our team played hard," Coppin State coach
Michael Grant said. "It was just a very tough matchup with their size. I thought we competed and played well. We didn't do a good job of taking care of the ball. We had a lot of live ball turnovers."
The difference in the game, aside from Brimah's performance, was the opening two minutes of each half. The Huskies jumped to a 13-2 lead that eventually swelled to 34-14 with 10: 45 remaining.
However, the Eagles refused to fold and used seven 3-pointers along with some stingy defense to close UConn's advantage to 42-36 following a Kessee three-pointer with 2:39 remaining in the opening half. During Coppin State's 22-8 surge, the Eagles had plenty of energy and made the Huskies uncomfortable.
The Huskies started the second half by scoring the first eight points to expand their 51-39 halftime advantage to 59-39 with 18:07 remaining.
Coppin State returns to action next Monday when it visits Michigan in a game beginning at 8:00 p.m. Meanwhile, UConn plays second-ranked Duke Thursday night at the IZOD Center.
NOTES: The last time Coppin State had two players score 20 or more points in the same game was last season's finale against Howard when
Andre Armstrong (23 points) and Brickhouse (20) did it. Kemba Walker was the last UConn player to score at least 40 points in a game. He scored 42 against Vermont in 2010. This was the third time that Coppin State played a UConn team coming off a national championship (1999 and 2011).
