STORRS, Conn. – Lamar Morgan scored 30 points with seven three-pointers but it was not enough to beat the University of Connecticut who took down Coppin State University, 72-59 on Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion. The Eagles fall to 0-10 on the year while the Huskies improve to 7-3 on the season.
A junior from Willingboro, N.J., Morgan made 8-of-12 from the floor while sinking 7-of-11 from behind-the-arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Morgan is the first Eagles men's basketball player to score 30 points in a game since
Michael Harper tallied 30 points on January 23, 2012 against North Carolina A&T. While also grabbing five rebounds, Morgan's seven triples were the most for a CSU player since
Andre Armstrong made eight against NC A&T on January 28, 2013.
While Morgan had by far a career-day, the rest of the Eagles scored just 29 points on 10-of-36 shooting.
Adam Traore was the second-leading scorer for Coppin with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Karonn Davis added six points with five rebounds and a season-high seven assists.
Coppin narrowly outshot the Huskies, 37.5% to 37.1% with ten three's but rebounding was the difference as UConn holding a 50-26 advantage in the category. The much taller Huskies grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, matching CSU's defensive rebound total, and turned that into 21 second-chance points. Connecticut also made 19-of-25 shots from the charity stripe.
The Eagles scored the first eight points of the game on triples by
Keandre Fair, a native of nearby Hartford, and Morgan, as well as a layup by Traore with 17:53 remaining. After a three-point play by the Huskies, Morgan answered with another three to extend the lead back to eight points but UConn went on an 8-0 run to tie the score back at 11.
Tre' Thomas then stopped the bleeding with a three to put Coppin back on top, 14-11 with 12:52 left in the half.
The teams then traded leads but after a free throw by Fair gave CSU a 17-16 advantage, the Huskies went on a 16-3 run to take its largest lead of the half at 32-20 with 5:44 remaining. That was the largest lead for the Huskies in the period and Coppin, behind eight more points by Morgan, fought back to cut the deficit to 36-31 at the half.
The Eagles kept it close throughout the entire second half but couldn't get over the hump as the lead never got beyond the final 13-point deficit.
Up next for Coppin is a local trip to nearby UMBC on Tuesday, December 12 at 7 pm.
