Men's Basketball | 1/2/2015 1:45:00 PM
BALTIMORE – The Coppin State men's basketball team takes its final regular season flight when it visits the University of Akron Saturday night at James A. Rhoads Arena beginning at 7:00 p.m.
This will be Coppin State's fourth consecutive game against a team either ranked or receiving votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major top 25 poll. Akron is the second team from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) that the Eagles will play. Eastern Michigan, which is ranked 14th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major top 25 poll, was the other MAC school the Eagles faced. Akron received 61 votes in this week's poll. Evansville was ninth and Eastern Kentucky received 33 votes.
Coppin State (1-13 overall) has displayed plenty of positive signs in its last three halves of action even though it has nothing to show in the win column for the effort.
In its last two games against Evansville and Eastern Kentucky, Coppin State put itself in a position to win both games. However, three late turnovers against Evansville in the final two minutes and a last second 3-pointer by Eastern Kentucky left the Eagles frustrated, but encouraged as they head into their final non-conference contest of the season.
It's been a long and winding road for Coppin State, who have opened the season playing 13 of its first 16 games on the road. The flight to Akron will be Coppin State's eighth of in less than two months. This is the second straight season that Coppin State is visiting Akron. The Eagles dropped a 77-66 decision last season to the Zips, who are 6-1 at home this season.
Coppin State enters the game seventh in the nation in 3-pointers per game made (9.8). The Eagles are second nationally in attempts and third in makes. Against Eastern Kentucky, the Eagles shot 50 percent (21-for-42) and made 12 3-pointers for the second straight contest.
The Eagles are led in scoring by the triumvirate of
Arnold Fripp (12.3 ppg.),
Taariq Cephas (10.7) and
Sterling Smith (10.0). Fripp also leads CSU in rebounding at 5.3 per game and has been a menace on the glass in his last two games, grabbing 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively against Evansville and Eastern Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Akron has won five of its last seven games, including a 70-63 victory over Marshall Tuesday night. Pat Forsythe led Akron with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Marshall. Also reaching double digits for the Zips were Noah Robotham (13 points), Reggie McAdams (12) and Deji Ibitayo (11).
The Zips have scored 49 points off of 47 turnovers over their last two games. Akron also has 29 steals in its last two games. The Zips have made at least eight 3-pointers nine times this season, so there could be lots of long distance shooting Saturday night.
Coppin State ends the season with 16 consecutive contests against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponents beginning next Saturday at Howard University (4:00 p.m.).
