MADISON, Wisc. – Coppin State's men's basketball team dropped its season opener at the University of Wisconsin, 85-63, on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
Lamar Morgan led the Eagles with 15 points to go with four 3-pointers while
Taqwain Drummond added a career-high 11 points.
The Basics
- Final Score: Coppin State 63, Wisconsin 85
- Records: Coppin State 0-1 (0-0 MEAC) / Wisconsin 1-0 (0-0 B1G)
- Location: Madison, Wisc. – Kohl Center
- Series History: Wisconsin Leads, 4-0
How It Happened:
First Half
- Wisconsin nailed a three after winning the opening tip but Coppin started off strong on the offensive end as Drummond nailed a jumper followed by a three-pointer by Chad Andrews-Fulton which was his first career triple.
- The Badgers answered with another three on their next possession to retake the lead but Morgan drilled a three and Andrews-Fulton converted on a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give CSU an 11-6 lead with 17:09 left in the first half.
- An 8-0 run by Wisconsin gave the home team a 14-11 lead before freshman Nigel Marshall buried a jumper in the paint for his first career points with 13:56 remaining in the period.
- That would be as close as the Eagles would get as the Badgers went on a 14-0 run over the next seven minutes before freshman Ibn Williams stopped the bleeding with a field goal with just under seven minutes left.
- Turnovers were key during the UW run as the Eagles were called for three offensive fouls. Coppin was also called for 15 fouls in the first half compared to just four for the Badgers.
- Wisconsin made CSU pay for the fouls, sinking all 12 of its free throws in the first half while Coppin made its only shot from the stripe.
- The Badgers went on another 13-0 run following the jumper by Williams to go up 41-15 with just over four minutes left.
- Marshall then nailed a three just before a media timeout to make it a 41-18 game and the teams played virtually even until the end of the first half where Wisconsin held a 49-27 lead at the break.
- The Badgers shot 50.0% from the floor in the period with nine threes compared to 38.5% for the Eagles, who made 6-of-13 from deep.
Second Half
- Coppin played Wisconsin dead even in the second half with both teams scoring 36 points and shooting an identical 11-of-33 from the floor in the period.
- The Badgers got out of the gate with a jumper by Ethan Happ, but the Eagles pulled to within 15 points a couple of times early in the half.
- Taqwain Drummond answered Happ with a three and Dejuan Clayton grabbed a long rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup.
- Following a Badgers free throw, Clayton made a jumper and Drummond sunk another three to cut the deficit to 52-37 with 17:01 remaining.
- Khalil Iverson ended CSU's mini run with a jumper before Cedric Council responded with one of his own, putting the deficit back to 54-39.
- That would be as close as Coppin would get as Wisconsin ran off ten-straight points to take a 66-41 lead with 11:14 remaining.
- Lamar Morgan tried to get Coppin back into the game with a pair of three's sandwiching a trio of free throws as he was fouled while shooting another one from deep but Wisconsin would not give way.
Inside the Numbers
- Coppin was outshot 41.0% to 35.6% and were narrowly outrebounded, 37-36.
- Lamar Morgan led the Eagles with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, all of which were from from three-point range. Morgan also made all three free throws and pulled down three rebounds.
- Taqwain Drummond one-upped his career-high with 11 points with three 3-pointers and he matched Cedric Council with a team-high five rebounds. Council also had a pair of blocks and three assists.
- Nigel Marshall and Ibn Williams chipped in with nine and seven points, respectively, in their collegiate debuts. Both players also grabbed three rebounds and Williams matched Council with three assists to lead CSU.
- Dejuan Clayton returned from an injury that kept him out all but six games last season and finished with seven points, two rebounds and two assists.
- Baltimore product Brendan Medley-Bacon added one point and four rebounds in his first college game.
- Wisconsin got a triple-double ten points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists from Naismith Player of the Year candidate Ethan Happ. The senior also blocked four shots.
- D'Mitrik Trice led all scorers with 21 points with five 3-pointers.
- Brevin Pritzl also finished in double figures with 16 points with four 3-pointers.
Up Next
- Coppin returns to the hardwood on Saturday, November 10 when they travel to take on the Dayton Flyers at 7 pm. The matchup will be one of four games for the Eagles that is associated with the Bay Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.
