MEN'S BASKETBALL
PREVIEW
When: Saturday, January 21
at 4 p.m., at Morgan State (4-11, 2-2 MEAC)
Monday, January 23 at 7 p.m., at
Coppin State (8-10, 3-2 MEAC)
TV: The Coppin State
game will be aired on ESPNU.
Must See: The Aggies
opportunity to showcase their talents on national television. The Aggies open
their Baltimore trip at Morgan State on Saturday afternoon. After playing the
Bears, the Aggies head down the street to play Coppin State Monday night. The
game against the Eagles will be televised live on ESPNU. It will be the Aggies
only regular-season nationally broadcasted game this season, with their only
other possible opportunities being in the MEAC Tournament Championship or an
NCAA Tournament contest. The Aggies are 6-4 when they play on ESPNU. A&T's
televised game comes as starting forward DaMetrius Upchurch gets healthy. The junior forward out of Raleigh, N.C., has missed the
Aggies last three games with a hip pointer. In his place, the Aggies have used
freshmen Anthony Estes and Wayland Siverand in the starting lineup. The Aggies
are after their third straight win on Saturday. They have won twice in their last
10 games against the Bears, but lead the all-time series 41-34. The Aggies are
19-33 against the Eagles all-time, and coach Jerry Eaves is 5-9.
Morgan State: The Bears will have
head coach Todd Bozeman back on the bench after a three-game suspension for an
incident that occurred at S.C. State. Bozeman has been effective when playing
A&T. He is 9-2 against the Aggies in his six seasons at Morgan State. The
Bears went 1-2 without Bozeman, including a nationally televised win over
Hampton and a double overtime loss to Norfolk State. The Bears' leader is NBA
prospect DeWayne Jackson. Jackson leads the Bears in scoring and has connected
on 33 3-pointers this season. Morgan State Kevin Thompson also returns for the
Bears. He is averaging 12.7 points per game and leads the team in rebounding
(8.5 rpg). In six games played against the Aggies, Thompson is averaging 12.3
points, 11.5 rebounds and he shoots 51.8 percent from the floor.
Coppin State: Legendary Coppin
State coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell recently won his 400th career game.
Mitchell picked up his 400th win on Dec. 30 at home against Nebraska
Omaha. The Eagles have picked up three more wins since then with all three
being conference wins. The Eagles' two losses in conference play have come
against the league's top two teams - Savannah State and Norfolk State. Coppin
State and A&T are ranked second and third in the MEAC respectively. The
Eagles make close to 10 3-pointers per game and they are smart with the
basketball as they go into this weekend's games with the best
assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference. The Eagles are led by Tony Gallo
and Akeem Ellis. The two are 1, 2 in scoring and have combined to dish out 135
assists with Gallo leading the way with 68.
He's Heating Up: Junior forward
Adrian Powell (6-6, 190, Conover, N.C.) has played a crucial role in the Aggies
two-game winning streak. Powell scored five points in overtime against Florida
A&M on Jan. 9 to lead the Aggies to an 85-82 win. Five days later, Powell
scored nine points in two minutes in the second half against Howard as the
Aggies defeated the Bison 70-65. Powell is shooting 52.6 percent from the floor
and 39.1 percent from 3-point range.
