Coppin State Eagles

Date/Time: Tuesday December 13th @ 6:00 PM ET at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC.
TV: ESPN+
Preseason Ranks: 315th (KenPom), 303rd (Bart Torvik), 277th (Sports Illustrated)
2021-22 Record: 9-23, 6-8 (T-6th in MEAC)
2022-23 Projected Record: 12-19, 8-6 (T-3rd in MEAC)

Head-to-Head: 4-1. The 2022-23 season will mark the third consecutive year we face Coppin State. In last year's 75-62 victory we took a narrow two point lead into halftime before pulling away in the second. Joe finished with a double-double (25 points, 10 rebounds) while BA added 13 points and 8 rebounds himself. Brayon came off the bench to give the team 10 points and 8 assists. Despite not going to the line a lot (11 attempts is low against a team like Coppin) we were able to hit 43% from distance and dish out 17 assists to compensate. Coppin certainly let shots fly, but the shots weren't falling as they finished the game under 40% from the floor and just 28% from 3 despite taking half their shots from there. They were clearly settling a lot given they had just 6 assists on the night. The conclusion of a seven game road trip definitely caught up with them.

Preseason Offensive Efficiency: 342nd (KenPom), 317th (Bart Torvik)
Preseason Defensive Efficiency: 246th (KenPom), 254th (Bart Torvik)
Pace: 6th (KenPom), 2nd (Bart Torvik)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 326th
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 198th
Rim & 3 Rate: 88% (139th)

Strengths:
3-PT Field Goal Attempts (14th)
Turnovers Forced (37th)
Steals Per Game (38th)
Total Steals (T-47th)
3-PT Field Goals Per Game (67th)
Free Throw Attempts (T-74th)
Total 3-PT Field Goals Made (T-78th)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game (89th)

Weaknesses:
3-PT Field Goal Percentage (271st)
Free Throw Percentage (281st)
Scoring Offense (282nd)
Total Assists (T-288th)
Scoring Defense (T-303rd)
Fewest Turnovers (306th)
Turnovers Per Game (308th)
Assists Per Game (T-309th)
Win-Loss Percentage (T-312th)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game (313th)
Scoring Margin (323rd)
Assist Turnover Ratio (333rd)
3-PT Field Goal Percentage (335th)
Field Goal Percentage (346th)
Rebound Margin (349th)

Key Returning Players:
Nendah Tarke (RS Sophomore; Gaithersburg, MD) 13.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.9 spg; 40% FG, 28% 3-PT, 63% FT
      Last Season vs. GW: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; 5-9 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 1-2 FT in 28 minutes.
Mike Hood (RS Senior; Kansas City, MO) 7.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1 apg; 38% FG, 31% 3-PT, 77% FT
      Last Season vs. GW: 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists; 3-6 FG, 1-3 3-PT, 2-3 FT in 29 minutes.
Justin Steers (RS Senior; Philadelphia, PA) 5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg; 48% FG, 8% 3-PT, 70% FT
      Last Season vs. GW: 2 minutes played.

Key Losses:
Jesse Zarzuela (Transferred to Central Michigan; Houston, TX) 14.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.4 spg; 37% FG, 30% 3-PT, 76% FT
Tyree Corbett (Transferred to Denver; Philadelphia, PA) 13 ppg, 8.8 rpg; 47% FG, 24% 3-PT, 61% FT
Kyle Cardaci (Transferred to St. Peter's; Holmdel, NJ) 7.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.6 spg; 32% FG, 31% 3-PT, 72% FT

Comments:
Life as a MEAC school isn't easy. Take a look at any team's schedule from that conference and you will likely see a bunch of guarantee games covering their schedule throughout November and December. Perhaps no team had a more extreme travel schedule than Coppin State over the first month of the season. The Eagles played 10 games within the first 18 days of the year. Over the first week and a half of the schedule, they were either playing every day or every other day in order to fund their athletic department which has a budget of just over 4 million dollars - for all their sports combined. Unsurprisingly, the hectic traveling arrangements led to an unfortunate moment last year where Coppin left their jerseys behind in Baltimore, forcing them to use Drexel's practice jerseys to face the Dragons. SI ran a great article about that entire experience which is a great read.

Given the demanding playing schedule, players had virtually no time to heal from bumps and bruises they'd taken in each game and there wasn't really any time to practice/prepare for an opponent as off days were spent either flying commercially or taking a bus to the next school. As a result, CSU finished a dismal 1-14 OOC where they played 13 of their 15 games away from home (to their credit though they went 10-5 against the spread OOC!). Their MEAC slate the opened with four consecutive road contests (although the NC Central game was later postponed due to COVID within NCCU's program) meaning CSU did not have consecutive home games until January 24 and 29th of 2022. Yes, you read that correctly. It was almost February by that time. Thankfully, they finally faced opponents that were closer in talent to them (and faced similar challenges) so they went nearly .500 in conference, with only really Norfolk State being a team decidedly ahead of the others. Coppin State is back at it again with a tough schedule this year, as they start with 11 of their first 13 contests on the road (but hey there's two consecutive home games earlier this year!) Once again, the GW game will be the final game of a long road trip (a nine game trip to be exact). Given CSU just faced ECU two days ago, hopefully that works in our favor.

On the court, while Juan Dixon did his best to get players as much rest as possible from game-to-game, it certainly didn't help that Coppin played one of the fastest paces in the country (9th nationally in possessions per game), a MEAC trademark as teams look to make up a size disadvantage by exerting intense ball pressure with an abundance of depth at the guard position. The Eagles forced turnovers at a top 40 rate nationally. Not quite as good as the Maryland Eastern Shore squad we saw earlier in the year, but still above average.

The Eagles played over 56% of their games to the under despite their frenetic pace as scoring the basketball proved to be a challenge. CSU was bottom 15 nationally in field goal percentage and often relied on free throws to keep pace with their opponent. They also shot a lot of threes, but given they finished the year under 30% from deep they perhaps fell into the St. Joe's trap under Lange of maybe following analytics too blindly. While their defense was respectable due to the turnovers they forced, their fast pace often backfired against superior opponents and teams would hang 80+ points on them.

You would think CSU's schedule would cause major roster turnover year after year but at least the Eagles are returning three of their top six guys from last year, although leading scorer Jesse Zarzuela is out of the fold. The key piece in particular is Nendah Tarke, a first-team all MEAC player and all-defensive team member who is looking to continue to follow in older brother Anthony's footsteps in having a successful CBB career. I credit him for electing to stay CSU, because he could definitely play at a higher level than where he's at. Tarke had seven double-doubles at Coppin last year, good for 95th in the country. Interestingly enough, ex-teammate Tyree Corbett was 36th in the same category. He plays bigger than his height and rebounds the ball very well (64th nationally in defensive rebounds per game). Offensively, Tarke is very adept at driving to the hoop and drawing contact as he attempted the 67th most free throws in the country last season. To cap it all off, he is also a menace on the defensive end as Tarke finished #1 in the nation in steals per game. This will be another game where JB and BA will need to remain composed for 40 minutes.

Joining Tarke off the ball is former Montana State Bobcat/JUCO player Mike Hood, who is the leading returner on the team in three pointers made. Hood is practically on the floor to let it shoot as he doesn't provide much in terms of rebounding or passing. He will look to improve upon a 31% clip from 3. After starting a handful of games last year, Hood has been coming exclusively off the bench thus far.

Tarke may also be joined aside by another native of Gaithersburg in former JUCO Alex Rojas, who wasn't a particularly high usage player when on the floor (he averaged fewer than 3 FGs a game) but showed potential going 8/9 from the line on the year and shooting 35% from 3. Sophomore Isaiah Gross may also earn more playing/draw a few starts for the same reasons with a FG/3PT/FT line of 41/38/88 in a reserve role last year. Either one will look to fill the shoes of Kyle Cardaci, who returned home to NJ after taking the 91st most threes in the nation last season.

Rising sophomore Greg Spurlock cannot be forgotten either. Spurlock qualified for the all-rookie team in the MEAC last year based on strong facilitation skills but he will look to improve his shooting after going just 19/62 from the field last year and 21% from 3. In a pinch, Justin Steers may also see time in the backcourt. He's listed as a guard on the roster but is closer to a wing at 6-7. Steers knows his strengths, using his wide frame to get to the basket as he made just 1 three all of last year. He nearly attempted two free throws for every three shots taken.

Dixon did a great job in the transfer portal this offseason to address the lackluster three point shooting from last year. His biggest coup was landing Binghamton/Penn State transfer Sam Sessoms, who showed that he could play at the Big Ten level for the Nittany Lions last year. It's not everyday that a player like Sessoms comes to the MEAC. You have to think he is a contender for PoY if Coppin can finish towards the top of the league. Sessoms is a career 35% 3-PT shooter who can score at all three levels, distribute the ball (averaging nearly 6 dishes per game - 13th nationally) and is a pest of an on-ball defender. Having Sessoms and Tarke is a legit 1-2 duo. Kam'Ron Blue (formerly Cunningham) brings a ton of experience having played previously at both Fordham and Mississippi Valley State. He is a bit more volume dependent to put up points but brings great versatility as a guy that can defend multiple positions and is a willing rebounder.

Malik Battle (Charleston Southern), Christian Sutton (American), and true freshman CJ Scott will fight for remaining minutes. All three carry reputations as shooters but don't figure to get much time on the court. Given what transpired against American on Saturday, I'd prefer Sutton in particular doesn't take the court at all.

Up front, the only forward returning is Australian native Daniel Titus, who was more of a stretch forward that didn't shoot the ball particularly well and didn't provide enough rebounding to the team. Titus may see minutes in the contest, but is better served as a backup/reserve playing limited minutes.

Dixon didn't really add too many bodies down low which I guess makes sense given who CSU will be facing during conference play. Former St. Bonaventure/Robert Morris forward Justin Winston will lead the frontcourt although he's not really a true post player. Winston is good at finding his spots on the floor where he can make shots but isn't quite an effective shooter from distance. Oral Roberts transfer Luka Tekavčič is the only guy on the roster with real size at 6-11. The Serbian operates largely inside but doesn't see too many minutes. In general, it should be expected to see primarily a four guard lineup with Winston as the lone "big" in the middle tomorrow.

Expectations are the same as the previous two games. Need to play with energy on both sides of the ball and hopefully remain composed when CSU inevitably presses us. This figures to be the last easy game we have the rest of the season (although Coppin did take Georgetown to OT and beat an always solid Navy team at home) so hopefully we take advantage (aka not settling for threes if they aren't falling and cutting more to the hoop) and head to Hawaii on a high note. The student section should hopefully be rewarded after their remarkable consistency showing out game after game.

Projected Score: GW 87, Coppin State 77. 82% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us a 72.6% chance to win.
 

Rough start.  Down 4

Amazing how Dean makes a huge difference.  Noel brown not quick enough to make a difference on D and leaves the ball low in the post to get knocked away.

No inside game makes us easy to guard 

I thought Nixon entered the portal - but he is still on the bench?

Jabari West is no longer on bench either - did he leave the team?

Finally taking it to the basket!

Small bench - we are very tired on D and allowing open 3 point looks.  It is going to be a long 6 min

Max Edwards heard all the talk about a bad attitude and said how bout a double double?

Did anyone else have trouble with ESPN+?