The MSU men's basketball team will tip-off with Coppin State at Hill Field House on Saturday at 4 PM, following the Lady Bears' contest against Bowie State (2 PM).
Full Gamenotes
The Matchup
The Morgan State men's basketball team (2-6) will host cross-town rival Coppin State at Hill Field House on Saturday (Dec. 6) at 4:00 p.m. The Bears fell short in a 65-61 loss at home on Monday night, snapping the Bears 15-game winning streak at Hill Field House. Saturday's contest will mark the 65th meeting between the teams in school history. Coppin State owns a 49-15 record in the series.
Coppin State (1-3) is in search of its second win of the season and will be entering Hill Field House attempting to bounce back from a 78-67 road loss in the Robins Center against Richmond on Nov. 30. Senior Tywain McKee led the Eagles with 20 points, while freshman Jordan Lee added 15 points. Coppin State's only win of the season was a 94-73 blowout victory against Wilmington University in the Hornet Classic at Memorial Hall on Nov. 15. Jordan Lee led the Eagles with 22 points.
Bears Last Time Out:
Reggie Holmes scored 19 points and Joseph Morgan chipped in 10 points as the Morgan State Bears were upended by the Red Flash of Saint Francis-Pa. 65-61 Monday night at Hill Field House. The Red Flash (2-4) handed Morgan State its fourth consecutive loss and also ended the Bears' 15-game home winning streak. The Bears went (2-6) 12-0 last year at home, en route to their first MEAC regular season and have not been defeated at home since a two-point loss to Hampton on Feb. 20, 2007.
About Coppin State
The Bears and Coppin State prepare for their 65th meeting in the series … Coppin State leads the series 49-15 ... Morgan State won 2-out of-3 of the meetings last season by posting wins at the Coppin Center (78-50, Dec. 1, 2007) and at Hill Field House (68-64, March 6, 2008) during the regular season, before falling to the #7 seeded Eagles 62-60 in the MEAC Championship (March 15, 2008) ... Tywain McKee capped one of the most brilliant individual performances in tournament history, scoring on a fi ve-foot fl oater with three seconds remaining to give Coppin State the MEAC Title ... Head coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell has posted a career record of 40-9 (.816) Morgan State ...
The potential starters for the Eagles are:
G - 10 Lenny Young (6-2, Fr., Philadelphia, Pa.) 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
G - 12 Chuka Iloegbu (6-3, Sr., Brentwood, N.Y.) 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg
G - 22 Tywain McKee (6-2, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) 18.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.8 apg
F - 34 Brian Chestnut (6-7, Sr., Clinton, Md.) 5.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, .750 FT
F - 44 Rigoberto Sargeant (6-9, Sr., Stroudsburg, Pa.) 5.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, .538 FG
Holmes & Kately Shouldering the Load
Senior forward Marquise Kately and junior guard Reggie Holmes are scoring most of the points for the Bears through seven games. Kately, selected to the 2008-09 Preseason All-MEAC First-Team, is averaging a team-high 32.2 minutes, 9.6 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game. Holmes, who comes off the bench as the Bears' 6th man, leads the Bears in scoring (12.1 ppg) and is averaging 3.8 rebounds and 23.6 minutes per game.
