Men's Basketball | 12/29/2014 12:10:00 PM
BALTIMORE – Expect lots of three-point fireworks when Coppin State hosts Eastern Kentucky in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Physical Education Complex Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
Both teams rank in the top 10 nationally in 3-pointers made per game. Each team makes 9.6 3-pointers per contest. Eastern Kentucky (6-5 overall) is ninth and Coppin State (1-12) is 10th. They have combined to make 231 triples this season.
Coppin State is also second nationally in 3-pointers attempted (393) and fifth in total 3-pointers made (125). Both marks lead the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
Coppin State is finishing a difficult December with its first home game in 20 days.
Coppin State played 10 of its 29 scheduled regular season games (34.4 percent) in the month of December. For the Eagles, this will be their fourth game in eight days. It's the second crazy stretch of basketball that Coppin State endured in this month. From Dec. 3-10, Coppin State played four games in seven days.
Adding to the degree of difficulty of this home contest against Eastern Kentucky is the Eagles woke up early Monday morning and flew home, arriving in Baltimore around 9 a.m.
Coppin State concluded its four-game road trip with an 85-80 loss to Evansville Sunday afternoon. The Eagles erased a 19-point second half deficit to take a pair of one-point leads with under four minutes remaining against the Purple Aces.
The key for Coppin State is to continue to build from that second half performance, which saw the Eagles make 48.7 percent of their shots (19-for-39) and sink eight 3-pointers.
The Eagles had four players reach double figures in scoring led by
Sterling Smith's season-high 22 points.
Arnold Fripp recorded his second career double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds).
Daquan Brickhouse (12 points) and
Christian Kessee (11) completed the double-figure quartet for Coppin State. It was the fourth time this season Coppin State had four players score 10 or more points in the same game.
For the season, Coppin State has been led in scoring by Fripp (12.7 points per game), Cephas (10.2) and Smith (10.0).
Waiting for the Eagles is a Colonel squad that owns a road victory over previously 18th-ranked Miami less than two weeks ago. After beating No. 18 Miami by 28 on the road, Eastern Kentucky lost at Florida Atlantic on Monday. In a game that saw 13 lead changes and 12 ties, EKU came up short in a 69-66 loss.
Corey Walden led Eastern with 15 points to go along with four steals and three rebounds. Eric Stutz added 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. Walden, who was recently named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week, leads the Colonels in scoring with a 17.5 point per game average.
The Colonels have out-scored their last two opponents by 39 points off turnovers. Eastern Kentucky is second in the nation in turnover margin (+10.9) and third with an average of 11.5 steals per game.
Coppin State finishes its non-conference schedule by visiting Akron Saturday night (7:00 p.m.).
