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Coppin State (5-16, 2-4 MEAC) at North
Carolina A&T (9-11, 2-3 MEAC)
Date: January 28, 2013
Time: 8 p.m.
Facility:
Corbett Sports Center
Series: Coppin
State leads, 34-20
Live
Webstream: www.ncataggies.com; Walter Johnson (play-by-play);
Terry Cooper (analyst)
PROBABLE
STARTERS: G Lamont Middleton (6-3 Jr., 13.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.8 apg); G Jean
Louisme (6-4 Sr., 10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 apg); F Austin Witter (6-8 Sr., 6.3
ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.0 bpg); F Adrian Powell (6-6 Sr, 12.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.8 spg); C
Bruce Beckford (6-7 Fr., 7.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
CHIT CHAT: North Carolina A&T held a five-point lead against
Morgan State before turnovers plagued the Aggies over the final five minutes in
a 55-52 loss at Corbett Sports Center on Saturday. The Aggies will now try to
regroup against a Coppin State team it has traditionally struggled to
defeat. Coppin State is one of the few
teams in the MEAC that holds a winning record over the Aggies even though A&T
was able to defeat the Eagles 93-92 in overtime in Baltimore last season.
Adrian Powell was a big part of that victory. His 3-pointer in the waning
seconds of the game clinch the victory for A&T. The Aggies have been
successful against the Eagles at Corbett, holding a 14-11 record. Plus, Powell
plays well at home. He is averaging 16.6 points per game at Corbett, while
shooting 44.7 percent from 3-point range.
From the coach:
"Our guys reverted back to playing not as
smart as we had been playing. Consequently, we lost. It was a tough loss (to
Morgan State), but we've got to get back on the horse and prepare for Coppin
State. We can't let this loss carry over to Monday night. We can dissect this
game and learn from it. But our main objective has to be, beating Coppin on
Monday."
North Carolina
A&T head coach Cy
Alexander on Coppin State
It's A "Lock": A&T must rebound to be effective.
The Aggies are just 1-10 when teams secure more rebounds in a game as opposed
to being 8-1 when they either outrebound or have the same amount of rebounds as
an opponent.
The Opponent: Coppin State relies on its guard play to be
effective. The Eagles two big guards are 6-foot-5 Patrick Cole and 6-5 Michael
Murray. The two smaller guards are 5-9 Taariq Cephas and 6-2 Andre Armstrong.
Armstrong is coming off of a 28-point performance in Durham against N.C.
Central on Saturday, Cephas recorded 13 points and six assists against NCCU.
Cole came off the bench to score 29 points on four 3-pointers in an overtime
win over Hampton on Jan. 21. Murray is the leading scorer at 12.5 points per
game, but is not one of the Eagles better 3-point shooters at 22.0 percent. He is,
however, an effective rebounder at 9.3 per contests.
Potential Gameday Star
power: North Carolina A&T: Senior forward Austin Witter may play a big role in tonight's
game. He could be a matchup problem for the Eagles on the offensive end, and
his presence in the paint could make it hard for the Eagles to score. Witter is
closing in on the school's all-time single-season blocked shots record. He
needs 26 blocks to break Thomas Coleman's four-year old record. Coppin State: Junior guard Andre
Armstrong has the hot hand for the Eagles. He has scored in double figures in
his last four games. He is averaging 20.8 points over his last four games while
shooting 42.1 percent (16-for-38) from 3-point range and 86.4 percent
(19-for-22) from the free throw line.
The Magic Number For A&T: 60: North Carolina A&T scored
52 points on Saturday. It marked the 25th straight game the Aggies
have lost when they failed to score at least 60 points in a game.
FROM THE
NOTES
A&T center Bruce Beckford left Saturday's game after only
three minutes of action. The Aggies big man has been suffering from back pain
throughout the season.
This will be
the 37th time Cy Alexander will face Coppin State. Alexander is
16-20 against the Eagles in his career, while the Aggies as a team are 20-34
against Coppin.
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