Coppin State Travels to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday

Men's Basketball | 12/21/2016 3:32:00 PM

Coppin State closes the non-conference portion of its regular season against Mount St. Mary's on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Knott Arena. The Eagles (1-13) look to close the non-conference portion of their regular season schedule avoiding 14 losses prior to MEAC play. The 2014-15 Eagles went 1-14 in non-conference play and the 2005-06 squad went 0-12. CSU and Mount St. Mary's met for the first time on the hardwood in the 2008 NCAA Opening Round in Dayton, Ohio where the Mount won 69-60 on March 18, 2008.

GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Knott Arena (3,120)
Tipoff Time: 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Stats: HERE
Video: HERE
Audio: HERE
 
EAGLES SPLIT AT HOME
The Eagles split their last two games at home in the Physical Education Complex. Last Thursday, Coppin State picked up their first win of the season over Goldey-Beacom (89-83) in overtime, but was downed (65-53) on Tuesday to Louisiana-Monroe. Junior Tre' Thomas had a season-high 25 points in the win over Goldey-Beacom while senior Terry Harris Jr. also added a season-high 21 points and freshman Dejuan Clayton finished with 19 points off of the CSU bench. Clayton led the team in scoring against Louisiana-Monroe with 11 points off of the bench.
 
BENCH CARRIES SCORING IN LOSS TO WARHAWKS
Coppin State's bench shined outscoring Louisiana at Monroe's bench 33-3 in their second home loss of the season. Freshman Dejuan Clayton finished with a team-high 11 points while tying a season-best with five made field goals as he attempted a season-high 14 shots. This was his fifth time leading Coppin State in scoring this season which leads the team. Senior Joshua Treadwell had nine points and three rebounds. Sophomore Lucian Brownlee scored eight points hitting 2-of-5 attempted three-pointers. Clayton, Treadwell and Brownlee all came off of the Eagles bench. CSU outscored ULM 33-29 in the final half, but were only successful on 1-of-9 three-pointers taken. The Eagles never recovered from the double-digit deficit and trailed the entire way to the Warhawks, suffering their tenth double-digit loss of the season, 65-53.
 
YOUNG BACKCOURT LEADS EAGLES SCORING EFFORT
In the month of December, junior Tre' Thomas leads the Eagles scoring production with 11.2 points per game. He has made nine three-pointers in five games started. He scored his second 20+ point game of the season with a season-high 25 points at home against Goldey-Beacom. Freshman guard Dejuan Clayton made one start this month and leads the bench scoring 10.2 points per game with a team-high 15 assists. He dished out a season-high eight assists against Goldey-Beacom in 39 minutes of action.
 
THE LATEST

• Coppin State ranks 17th in the nation in 3-pt field goal attempts (330), 29th in total rebounds (493), 62nd in free-throw attempts (277), 79th in offensive rebounds per game (12.43) and 83rd in total 3-point field goals made (99).
• The Eagles lead the MEAC in total rebounds and ranks second in both 3-point field goal attempts, and free-throw attempts. They are third in free-throws made (177), offensive rebounds per game, and total 3-point field goals made
• Individually, Tre' Thomas is third in the MEAC in three-point field goal attempts (90) and fourth in total three-point field goals made (32).

UP NEXT
Coppin State will open up conference play against the Bulldogs of South Carolina State on Wednesday, January 4, 2017 in the Physical Education Complex. The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs 31-29 and have won the last seven meetings in Baltimore between the teams. SC State picked up wins in the most recent meetings last season, 88-83 in Orangeburg and 90-80 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 MEAC Basketball Tournament.
 
ABOUT THE MOUNT
Mount St. Mary's (1-11) have dropped their last eight games including an 81-65 loss on the road to Bucknell in their last game. The Mount are 0-2 at home this season and have three players averaging double figure scoring. Elijah Long leads the team scoring 14.8 points per game while Junior Robinson (12.1 ppg) and Miles Wilson (10.0 ppg) are also key factors. Long also leads the team in assists and is second in rebounding.
 
MADE THREE-POINTERS STREAK CONTINUES FOR EAGLES
Coppin State has made at least one three-point field goal in 200 consecutive games over the past seven seasons; which is the current longest streak in the nation. The last time the Eagles were unable to register a made three-pointer in a game was back on Feb. 22, 2010 at Delaware State (0-8).
 
EAGLES LAST DIVISION I NON-CONFERENCE VICTORY 
Coppin State has not defeated an NCAA Division I opponent in three seasons. The last non-conference victory came at home on December 11, 2013 against UMBC (91-71). That season CSU also defeated Ohio Valley (96-79) and Oregon State (78-73). Head Coach Michael Grant has four non-conference victories in three seasons for the Eagles coming against NCAA Division II institutions; Goldey-Beacom (3) and Chestnut Hill (1).