Men's Basketball | 12/16/2014 6:53:00 PM
BALTIMORE – The Coppin State men's basketball team will spend part of Christmas Eve inside of the Detroit Metro Airport preparing to fly home following two games in The Great Lakes State.
The Eagles (1-9 overall) continue their current four-game road trip by playing a pair of games in less than 24 hours against the University of Michigan Monday (8:00 p.m.) and Eastern Michigan Tuesday (6:00 p.m.). The Eagles game against Michigan will be televised live by the B1G-10 Network.
This is the second straight season Coppin State will visit Michigan.
Dallas Gary had 11 points and
Taariq Cephas added 10 points in the 87-45 loss last year to the Wolverines.
Since Michigan is close to the North Pole geographically maybe Santa Claus can continue to bless the Eagles' shooting touch they displayed in Sunday's 106-85 loss to Connecticut.
Coppin State made a season-high 15 3-pointers and shot 46.9 from beyond the arc against the Huskies. The Eagles are second in the nation in 3-pointers attempted (295), ninth in total 3-pointers made (95) and 12th in 3-pointers made per game (9.5).
The Eagles have four players who have made at least 16 3-pointers through the first 10 games.
Arnold Fripp leads CSU with 18 3-pointers. He made a career best six against UConn en route to tallying a career-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting against the Huskies. Fripp leads Coppin State in scoring (13.0) and rebounding (5.0).
Sterling Smith,
Taariq Cephas and
Christian Kessee have each made 16 3-pointers. Cephas is Coppin State's second leading scorer (10.8) and he's sixth in the MEAC in assists per game (3.2). He is currently sixth all-time in men's basketball history with 333 helpers for his career.
Smith, Cephas, Kessee, and Fripp are all among the top 15 in the conference in 3-pointers made per game. Kessee, who scored a career-high 22 points Sunday against UConn, is second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (44.4). He has made at least one 3-pointer in nine games this year, including five against the Huskies. Smith has made at least two 3-pointers in the Eagles' last four games.
Kessee and Smith are also averaging at least eight points per game. Against the Huskies,
Daquan Brickhouse provided plenty of energy by finishing with 16 points, seven assists and four steals.
Meanwhile, Michigan (6-4) has lost three consecutive games since beginning the season with a 6-1 record. This is nothing new for the Wolverine, who also started 6-4 last season but ended up going 28-9, winning the Big Ten regular season and advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight. Michigan lost to Louisville in the 2013 NCAA title game.
The Wolverines lost 80-53 to third-ranked and undefeated Arizona Saturday afternoon. The 27-point loss was the second-worst defeat in the John Beilein Michigan era. Michigan plays SMU Saturday. Zak Irvin was the only Wolverine to score in double figures against Arizona, closing with 14 points, including two long range buckets. He has at least one triple in every game this season. He leads U-M with 28 total three-pointers and is second on the team in scoring (15.7 ppg.).
Michigan's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game Caris LeVert has at least one steal in every game this season. Derrick Walton Jr chips in 11.6 points per game for Michigan.
Following this trip to Michigan, the Eagles conclude the road trip with a game at Evansville on Sunday, Dec. 28.
