Men's Basketball | 3/11/2015 12:50:00 AM
NORFOLK, Va. – The ninth-seeded Coppin State men's basketball team has a second opportunity to do something special when it takes on top-seeded North Carolina Central in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) quarterfinal contest Wednesday night at the Scope Arena.
The winner of this game advances to Friday's semifinals where it will meet the survivor of the No. 4 Howard-No. 5 Delaware State game.
The Eagles (8-22 overall) threw a major scare into North Carolina, almost ending North Carolina Central's 30-game home winning streak at the time back on Jan. 24. Coppin State dropped a 79-77 decision in the teams' only meeting this season in Durham. That contest featured 13 lead changes and 12 ties. The Eagles had a wide-open 3-point shot attempt from the top of the key that fell short as time expired.
It's March and anything can happen especially when a team shoots the 3-pointer the way Coppin State does.
North Carolina Central is the reigning MEAC Tournament champion and it completed a perfect 16-0 conference regular season en route to an overall 24-6 record.
Coppin State is 3-7 all-time against North Carolina Central, which is ranked 22nd in the latest collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. This will be the first postseason meeting between CSU and NCCU.
"We're not afraid to play anybody in this conference," Coppin State senior
Arnold Fripp said. "When we played them at their place, it was a real tough game and we came up short. That game gave us more confidence, even though we already had some, that we could play with anybody in this conference. It's going to be a tough, grind it out game and I feel that we're ready for it."
Coppin State advanced to the quarterfinals by winning one of those types of games against Bethune-Cookman, 64-60, in the opening round. Junior
Sterling Smith led Coppin State with 14 points and six rebounds. Fripp added nine points while
Taariq Cephas and
Daquan Brickhouse contributed eight points each.
In the earlier game against NCCU, Coppin State placed four players in double figures highlighted by
Christian Kessee's 19 points. Smith finished with 17 points and a team best seven rebounds.
Dallas Gary was a man possessed, scoring all 13 of his points after intermission. Gary also added seven rebounds.
Orchestrating the entire Coppin State show was Cephas, who recorded his second double-double of the season and third of his career with a splendid 10 point, 12 assist performance that had the entire NCCU gym in awe. The 12 assists were the sixth-best single game mark in Coppin State history for Cephas. Coppin State made 10 3-pointers.
"We are a team that believes we can play with anybody in this league," Smith said. "We look forward to the game and the challenge that it presents. I think it's going to be a good game."
In the last three seasons, no NCAA Division I men's basketball program has posted a better regular-season conference record than North Carolina Central University. Since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, the Eagles are 46-2 in MEAC play. NCCU heads into the MEAC Tournament with the nation's longest win streak against conference opponents with 34 straight victories (includes regular season and tournament).
All five of NCCU starters were voted to All-MEAC teams. Senior point guard Nimrod Hilliard garnered first team honors, while senior forward Jordan Parks, senior center Karamo Jawara and senior guard Anthony McDonald achieved second team recognition, and junior guard Dante Holmes received third team merit.
Parks is NCCU's leading scorer (14.2 points per game) and rebounder (8.2). He burned Coppin State for 25 points and 11 rebounds in the earlier meeting. His follow-up basket with 11 seconds remaining provided the winning margin. Hillard leads the MEAC in assists (6.4) and chips in 11.2 points per outing. NCCU's other double-digit scorers are McDonald (12.9) and Holmes (10.5).
"The key is for us will be able to knock down shots consistently," Coppin State head coach
Michael Grant said. "This is going to be a similar game as tonight's. I don't think Central wants to make it a fast-paced game. They want the game in the low 60s and we want it in the 70s and 80s. For us, it's all about us taking care of the ball, making sure we get good shots and valuing our possessions. We have to keep them off the glass and make sure we take the crowd out of the game."
