Men's Hoops Hopes to Continue Winning Ways at Savannah State & South Carolina State

GAME NOTES

BALTIMORE – Winners of two-straight MEAC games, the Coppin State men's basketball team will look to continue its winning ways with a pair of MEAC road games, starting with Savannah State on Saturday, February 9.  Two nights later, the Eagles travels to South Carolina State for a 7:30 pm tipoff on Monday, February 11.
 
The Basics
Teams: Coppin State (5-19, 5-4 MEAC) at Savannah State (7-15, 4-4 MEAC)
When: Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
Series History: Savannah State Leads, 6-2
Video: https://ssuathletics.com/watch/   
Audio: https://ssuathletics.com/watch/
Live Stats: https://ssuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
The Basics
Teams: Coppin State (5-19, 5-4 MEAC) at South Carolina State (4-20, 2-6 MEAC)
When: Orangeburg, S.C. (Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center)
Series History: Coppin State Leads, 34-31

Coppin Contributors
Dejuan Clayton and Lamar Morgan lead the way for the eagles offensively, averaging 13.6 and 11.5 points per game, respectively.  These numbers climb significantly in conference play with Clayton ranking third in the MEAC at 18.4 points while leading the conference with 57 free throws on 76 attempts.  Morgan is putting up 14.3 points while making 40% of his three's in conference games.  Chad Andrews-Fulton has increased his scoring to 9.1 in MEAC play and averages 7.3 rebounds, just ahead of Cedric Council's 6.6 points and 5.7 rebounds.  The trio of Kent Auslander, Justin Steers and Taqwain Drummond have also seen increased minutes lately and can hurt the opposition in a variety of ways on both sides of the ball.  Lucian Brownlee, Brendan Medley-Bacon, Nigel Marshall and Ibn Williams are also seeing significant minutes.

Scouting the Tigers
Savannah State takes the most 3-point field goals in the Nation with nearly 58% of its shots coming from distance.  Jaquan Dotson and Zack Sellers lead the team offensively with 12.7 and 12.6 points, respectively.  Dotson's 6.0 rebounds are second on the squad to Tyrell Harper (8.8 points, 6.5 rebounds) and he also leads the team with 29 steals.  Sellers has dished out a team-high 97 assists.  Zaquavian Smith is also averaging double digits while Collins Joseph and Romani Hansen are just under the ten points per game mark. Hansen also averages nearly a block per game.
 
What About the Bulldogs
Damani Applewhite gave the Eagles fits in Baltimore last month with a last-second tip in and averages 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 51.7% from the floor.  Janai Raynor-Powell is second on the team with 9.7 points and also leads the team with 27 steals and 76 assists.  Lavar Harewood and Jahmari Etienne both had nice games against the Eagles last time out, up from their respective 8.2 and 7.5 point averages.
 
Last Time Out
Coppin defeated Morgan State, 73-71 as Dejuan Clayton converted on a three-point play with 27 seconds remaining to seal a win. Clayton finished with 16 points, six rebounds and matched a career-high with eight assists.  Clayton went for 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists to no turnovers. Lamar Morgan added 15 points with four three's and Cedric Council added a season-high 13 points and four blocked shots. Taqwain Drummond chipped in with nine points while Chad Andrews-Fulton was all over the box score once again with seven points, nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals. Kent Auslander came up big once again down the stretch, scoring eight points. All eight of his points came in the final five minutes as he hit back-to-back three's.
 
Morgan's NC Swing Garners Him MEAC Weekly Honors
Lamar Morgan was named the MEAC Player of the Week on January 22 after helping Coppin to a 1-1 week at NC Central and North Carolina A&T.  In the two games, Morgan averaged 25.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3% from the field and 12-of-24 (50%) from deep. 
 
In a win over NCCU, Morgan buried a three from the corner with 32.2 seconds remaining to put CSU up for good.  He finished with 15 points and four 3's on the day.  Two nights later, Morgan scored 35 points with eight 3-pointers at North Carolina A&T.
 
Not a Fluke Performance by Morgan
Going into the game at North Carolina A&T, Lamar Morgan was averaging just 10.1 points per game and shooting  just 26.3% from 3-point range. Against the Aggies, Morgan scored a career-high 35 points while making 8-of-14 (57.1%) from behind-the-arc. 
 
This was actually Morgan's third career game where he scored over 30 points and also the second time he's hit eight 3-pointers in a game.  He has now made five of more triples in a game ten times in his career. Morgan buried 88 3-pointers last season, which were the 4th most in CSU history, while shooting 37.0% from distance.  In conference play, he made 42.6% of his 3-point attempts.
 
He's Back...
Although a small sample having played just nine MEAC games, redshirt sophomore Dejuan Clayton is second in the conference with 18.4 points per game in league play. He's also dished out 5.0assists, made a league-high 57 free throws out of 76 attempts (also a league-high) for a 75.0 percentage. Clayton was an All-Rookie Team selection in the 2016-17 season and played in just six games last year before suffering a season-ending injury.
 
Clayton Honored by MEAC for Big Week
Redshirt sophomore Dejuan Clayton was named the MEAC Player of the Week on January 8 (2nd of his career; 1/23/17) after leading Coppin to a pair of MEAC victories over Savannah State and at Delaware State.  A redshirt sophomore from Bowie, Md., Clayton led the Eagles to a pair of MEAC victories last week while averaging 23.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 54.5% from the field and 21-of-27 (77.8%) from the line. Against Savannah, Clayton recorded 23 points while making 6-of-11 from the field and 10-of-13 from the along with a career-high seven rebounds and four assists. Two days later, in a road victory at Delaware State, Clayton scored on an identical 23 points while making a career-high 11-of-14 from the free throw line.  Clayton also came through in the clutch with four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win over the Hornets.
 
Second-Toughest Non-Conference Schedule in Nation
Throughout the years, Coppin State has played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation, and this season was no exception.  Playing teams from an NCAA-high ten different States, the Eagles played the second-toughest non-conference schedule according to the College Basketball Power Index (BPI).  No other MEAC team ranks in the top 20 with Savannah State coming in at 24 as of December 19.
 
BPI Non-Conference Schedule Ranks
1. Texas Southern (9 States covered)
2. Coppin State (10 States covered)
3. Southern University (8 States covered)
4. North Florida (6 States Covered)
5. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8 States Covered)
 
This information was taken from ESPN article on December 17 "Why they do it: Toughest nonconference hoops schedules"
 
Hot Starts in the MEAC
For the first time since the 2003-04 season, the Eagles started 2-0 in MEAC play.  Below is a listing of all of the seasons where Coppin started out at 2-0 in league play since the 1985-86 season and how they finished that year.
 
Season       Start      Finish              Season       Start      Finish
2018-19      2-0          ???                    2003-04      3-0          14-4 
2002-03      2-0          11-7                  2000-01      2-0          11-8 
1999-00      2-0          13-5                  1997-98      5-0          17-1 
1995-96      7-0          14-2                  1993-94      16-0       16-0 
1992-93      16-0       16-0 (NCAAs) 1989-90      7-0          15-1 (NCAAs)
 
Council Honored 3x by MEAC for Defensive Efforts
On December 4, 2018, Cedric Council was named the MEAC Co-Player of the Week.  In games at James Madison and against UMBC, Council averaged 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals while putting up 6.5 points per game.  Council swatted away four shots and swiped a pair of steals while scoring nine points in a loss to the Dukes.
 
Three weeks later, Council once again received the award after coming down with 9 points and 12 rebounds at #20 Houston on December 23.  This past Wednesday, Council was a repeat winner after grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds at Notre Dame on December 29.
 
Lights Out Lamar
In his first season at Coppin State in 2017-18 after transferring from Mineral Area College in Missouri, Lamar Morgan was named Third Team All-MEAC and proved to be one of the top 3-point shooters in the Nation.  With range up to 30 feet, Morgan made an impressive 37.0% of his shots from behind-the-arc, and this clip rose to 42.6% in conference play.  An astonishing 77.3% of hit shot attempts last season came from behind-the-arc and he made at least five triples in eight different games, including a season-high eight against Hampton.    Morgan also sunk seven three's in games against Connecticut and Morgan State.
 
Morgan led the Eagles last season with 12.3 points per game last season to go with 5.1 rebounds but in conference action, Morgan put up 15.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.  His eight 3-pointers against Hampton were the 3rd-most in school-history and his 88 trifectas were the 4th most in CSU single-season history.
 
Morgan highlights the Preseason All-MEAC Second team coming into this year.
 
CSU Career 3-Pt FG's Made
1. Keith Carmichael ('95)               118 games          285 (2.4 per game)
2. Tywain McKee ('09)                    127 games          233 (1.8 per game)
8. Sidney Goodman ('95)              119 games          162 (1.4 per game)
9. Sterling Smith ('14)                     93 games             159 (1.7 per game)
10. Tariq Cephas ('14)                    124 games          152 (1.2 per game)         
NR. Lamar Morgan                          55 games             145 (2.6 per game)
 
Clayton on the Comeback Trail
Dejuan Clayton had a sensation freshman year during the 2016-17 season, averaging 12.4 points along with a team-high 3.1 assists en route to being named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team.  Clayton started last season off strong, recording 20 points at Cleveland State before going down with a season-ending injury at Central Connecticut State.
 
Despite playing in just six games last season, Clayton still garnered the respect from the rest of the conference as he was named Preseason All-MEAC coming into this season.
 
Steers Adds to Philly-Coppin Tradition
Freshman Justin Steers has come on strong as of late to lift his scoring average. This included a season-high 17 points against Bethune-Cookman and a team-high 16 points and two blocks at Rider.  Steers had another 13 points to go with a career-high seven rebounds at Louisiana Monroe.
 
Steers is one of two players from Philadelphia on the roster (Chad Andrews-Fulton) to join the likes of CSU legends Larry Stewart & Stephen Stewart as well as Antoine Brockington, Reggie Isaac, Terquin Mott and Tywain McKee.
 
Council's Block Party
In his first season at Coppin after transferring from Gordon State College in Georgia, Cedric Council proved to be one of the top shot blockers in the MEAC, averaging nearly one per game with a team-high 30.  No other Eagles player had more than 13 blocks in the year.  Council swatted away a season-high five blocks at Ohio University and had multiple blocks in five other games.
 
Andrews-Fulton 'The X-Factor'
Head Coach Juan Dixon calls Chad Andrews-Fulton the 'heart and soul of the team.'  Last season, the senior forward also proved to be an X-Factor in regards to the team's success.  For the season, Andrews-Fulton averaged 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, but in victories, put up 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 63% from the floor.
 
Sweet Lou, the Microwave
Of the team's five seniors/graduate students, only guard Lucian Brownlee has been at Coppin more than two years.  In fact, only him and redshirt sophomore Dejuan Clayton have been with the Eagles for two full seasons, and Clayton missed most of last year with an injury.  Brownlee has played in 109 games the last three-plus seasons, coming off the bench in all but two games to provide a scoring spark.  Brownlee averaged a career-high 4.9 points last season with a huge game against Bethune-Cookman where he went off for 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting and seven 3-pointers in only 23 minutes of playing time.  The coaching staff calls Brownlee 'The Microwave' due to his ability to score the ball rapidly in a short amount of time. With 32 games on the 2018-19 schedule including a MEAC Tournament game, should Brownlee play in each game, he will rank tied for fifth in games played at Coppin State with Taariq Cephas ('15) with 124 games.
 
Coppin Career Games Played Leaders
1. Brian Chesnut (06, 07, 08, 09)                 129
2. Tywain McKee (06, 07, 08, 09)               127
3. Vince Goldsberry (08,09,10,11)              126
4. Antwan Harrison (05, 06, 07, 08)           125
5. Taariq Cephas (12,13,14,15)..                 124
6. Sidney Goodman (92, 93, 94, 95)          119
7. Keith Carmichael (92, 93, 94, 95)           118
Larry McCollum (88, 89, 90, 91).                 118
Ceslovas Kucinskas (08,09,10,11)               118
10. Henry Colter (02,03,04,05)...                 114
NR. Lucian Brownlee (15-pres.)                 109
 
Making His First Start After 101 Games
After coming off the bench in his first 101 career games at Coppin State, senior guard Lucian Brownlee made his first career start at 20th-ranked Houston on December 23, 2018.  Playing in 19 minutes, Brownlee recorded a then season-high eight points with a pair of 3-pointers and two rebounds.
 
Family Ties
Graduate student Kent Auslander is playing in his second season at Coppin after transferring in from the University of Maryland where he was a walk-on for two seasons, playing in nine games.  Auslander is the younger brother of John Auslander who is in his second season at the Eagles' Associate Head Coach.  The older Auslander was also a letterwinner at Maryland and saw action in 27 games in three seasons.
 
Playing Together Again
Freshmen Nigel Marshall and Ibn Williams are teammates once again, having played four years of high school ball together, in two different States.  For three seasons, the duo played under coach Bob Hurley at the famed St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, N.J.  The school closed following the 2016-17 season, forcing Marshall and Williams to searching for a new home, which they found at Bishop McNamara High School. Both guards earned All-Conference accolades in the WCAC, which is arguably the toughest high school basketball conferences in the country.
 
Big Man on Campus
Standing seven-feet tall, freshman and Baltimore native Brendan Medley-Bacon will add a different dynamic to the Coppin lineup this season.  Medley-Bacon is the first seven-footer at Coppin since the 2004-05 season (Henry Colter) and just the third in CSU history.  Jason Iacona stood 7-1 and played at Coppin from 1997 to 2001.
 
From the Land Down Under
Freshman Giir Ring was born in Egypt but spent nearly all of his life in Sydney, Australia.  Ring played his prep school ball in Scottsdale, Arizona at Bella Vista College Preparatory School.  Ring is also the cousin on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Luol Deng.
 
Tuesdays on WNST 1570 AM
Every Tuesday morning during the season, head coach Juan Dixon and selected coaches and players will be interviewed by Nestor Aparicio on WNST 1570 AM. WNST will air all Coppin home men's and women's basketball games this season as well as selected road games. Games will also be aired on Fox Sports Williamsport as well as CSU's UStream channel.
 
Preseason Prognostics
Coppin State was picked to finish 9th of 12 teams in the 2018-19 MEAC Preseason Poll. Lamar Morgan, who received 3rd Team All-MEAC honors last season, headlined the Preseason Second Team.  Dejuan Clayton, who missed nearly all of last season with an injury, earned Third Team accolades.  Bethune-Cookman was picked to win the MEAC, followed by defending Tournament Champions North Carolina Central, Norfolk State, Howard and North Carolina A&T.  RJ Cole of Howard University was named the Preseason MEAC Player of the Year.
 
Juan Dixon in 2nd Season as Head Coach
Coppin State University Director of Athletics Derek Carter announced on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 that Juan Dixon had been named the seventh head coach in Coppin State University men's basketball history. Dixon comes to Baltimore from the University of the District of Columbia, where he posted a 3-25 record in his only season with the Firebirds women's basketball team in 2016-17. Prior to UDC, Dixon served as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach on the Men's Basketball coaching staff at his alma mater, University of Maryland. One of the most celebrated student-athletes in Maryland history, Dixon remains the all-time leading scorer in program history (2,269 points) after leading the Terrapins to their first national title in 2002 as a senior. He holds six different records in program history, ranging from points, games played, steals and 3-pointers. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2002 NCAA Final Four and ACC Player of the Year, Dixon earned two All-America selections, three First Team All-ACC awards and two All-ACC Tournament selections throughout his illustrious career. He averaged 16.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 steals in 141 games from 1998-2002. Dixon was drafted with the 17th pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, where he spent three seasons. He signed with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2005, and he averaged a career-high 12.3 points during his first season with the team. After stops in Toronto and Detroit, Dixon wrapped up his nine-year NBA career with the Wizards in 2008-09.