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Game 20
Opponent: Coppin State Eagles (5-16, 4-2 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017
Site:  PEC Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4:00 p.m. 
Series Record: Coppin State leads 56-29
Live Video Stream: goo.gl/3cFp7Y
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM (weaa.org)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Todd Bozeman (167-173, 11th yr) • CSU Michael Grant (22-61 2nd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Coach Todd Bozeman has his Morgan State Bears squad off to 5-1 start in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) after defeating South Carolina State on Monday. The Eagles (5-16, 4-2) had a 3-game winning streak before suffering a 74-64 loss at Norfolk State and dropped to 4-2 in the conference. The game will be broadcast by WEAA, 88.9 FM and there will be live stats on coppinstatesports.com and live updates throughout the games available on Twitter@MorganStBears.
 

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Coppin State finished the 2015-16 season with a 9-22 overall record, going 6-11 and finished 11th in MEAC play. 

The Eagles return seven letterwinners, including three starters senior from a squad that lost in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals to South Carolina State (L, 90-80).

• Coppin State was picked to finish 10th in the MEAC Preseason Poll and Terry Harris Jr. earned a spot on the Preseason All-MEAC Third Team.

• Coppin State is off to a 5-16 start and are 4-2 in the MEAC. The Eagles are averaging 62.0 points per game and are shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from 3-point territory.

• Michael Grant (Malone, '84) enters his third season as the Eagles' head coach. Grant joined Coppin State after a 6-year stint as head coach at Division II Stillman College. He's coached at Southern (2003-05) and Central State (1996-2003).

•  The Eagles have a three players who are averaging double-figures. Chas Brown leads the way by averaging 11.7 points per game and 5.6 rebounds.  Josh Treadwell is averaging 10.1 ppg and 3.9 rpg and Dejuan Clayton is adding 10.1 ppg.

THE SERIES
• Saturday marks the 86th meeting in the series. The Eagles hold a 56-29 record against Morgan State.

•  The teams have split in their last four meetings with Morgan State winning two and the Eagles taking a pair.

•  Last time vs.  CSU was Feb. 28, 2016 -- Morgan State overcame a seven-point deficit late in the second half to defeat cross-town rival Coppin State 74-72 in overtime. Andre Horne, who led the Bears with 19 points, hit the two biggest three-pointers of the game.

•  The last time CSU posted a win vs. the Bears was on March 1, 2015. The Bears scored 10 of the first 12 points of the game. However, the cross-town rival Coppin State Eagles had the last laugh before a sold out crowd at Hill Field House in their 88-77 win over the Bears on Senior Day.

FAST BREAK 
•  MSU assistant coach Larry Stewart was a standout player at Coppin State from 1988-1991. He led the Eagles to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990 and first ever National Invitational Tournament in 1991. Coppin State jersey (42) was retired at a ceremony in 1993 and the MEAC inducted Stewart into their Hall of Fame in 2005. Stewart's brother, Stephen, is in his first season as an assistant coach at Coppin State. 

•  The Bears are tops in the MEAC in free throw percentage (71.2) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.275). Morgan State is second in blocked shots (3.6), offensive rebounds (13.3), rebounding offense (38.1), and fourth in scoring margin (-6.4).

•  Tiwian Kendley had a 29-point performance against South Carolina State (Jan. 23) it marked his seventh 20-point effort in 12 games.

•  Phillip Carr is fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (.507).

•  Martez Cameron is fourth in the MEAC in assists per game (4.4) and dished out a career-high 12 dimes vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017.

•  Three Bears (Phillip Carr, Tiwian Kendley, and Kyle Thomas) are averaging double figure points.

•  MSU is averaging 35.2 points per game in the second half of games this season, which almost five points greater than its average in the first half of games (30.6)

•  Morgan State buried a season-high 12 3-pointers vs. N.C. A&T on Jan. 16, 2017. 

•  Five of the Bears games have been decided by six points or less this season, with four of the six being home contests.

•  Morgan State's most recent win against South Carolina State (Jan. 23) has vaulted head coach Todd Bozeman to the number one position among all MSU head men's basketball coaches with 167 career wins.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 11th year at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 10 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments.

BEWARE THE BEAR
Under the direction of Todd Bozeman, Morgan State has collected a couple of memorable wins against big-time opponents. The Bears have recorded historic wins against: Long Island (2009); Manhattan (2009); Arkansas (2009); DePaul (2008); and Maryland (2009).

HOME GROWN 
Morgan State has three players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Returning senior forward Kyle Thomas is from Owings Mills, Md. and graduated from Milford Mill Academy. Newcomer Tyjhai Byers is from Bethesda and was a prep standout at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, while Tiwian Kendley played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS and is a product of Greenbelt, Md.

COMFORTABLE AT HILL FIELD HOUSE 
Todd Bozeman has won at least 10 home games in three of his 10 seasons in Baltimore. The 2007-08 (12-1) and 2009-10 (11-1) squads finished with just a single loss, while the 2010-11 squad went 10-2. Bozeman has led the Bears to a 82-39 (.677) overall home record at Hill Field House. 

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TO TEST YOUNG BEARS
The year will open with a matchup at Houston Nov. 11, followed by three home contests against Towson Nov. 15, Wilmington Nov. 17 and Campbell Nov. 19. The Bears then hit the road for games at Brown Nov. 23 and Bowling Green Nov. 26, before returning to Hill Field House to host High Point Nov. 28. The Bears open the month of December with a date at Rutgers Dec. 3, before hosting a pair of contests against Manhattan Dec. 6 and Wagner Dec. 10.  The remaining three non-conference games on the schedule will take place at Penn State Nov. 21, at Loyola Marymount Dec. 27 and at California State, Northridge Dec. 29.

BEARS' SUMMER TOUR IN CANADA
The 2016-17 men's basketball season began a bit earlier than usual, as Morgan State planned a trip to Canada in August. The 7-day trip was scheduled from August 13 and ran through August 20. In that span, the Bears will played five games against outside competition. While in Canada, the Bears played games in Montreal and Ottawa. The trip marked Morgan State's sixth foreign tour since 1974. Previously, the Bears have traveled internationally to Brazil (1974), Colombia (1975), Canada, Cancun, Windsor, Canada (2010), Mexico (2011) and Nassau, Bahamas (2012).
"The tour provides returning players that might not have played a lot, to gain some valuable experience against international competition," said Todd Bozeman, who is entering his 11th season as Morgan State's head coach. "The tour allows you 10 days to practice, which is invaluable! It's a tremendous opportunity to get started early and exposes the young people to another country and culture."

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their second season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Ellerbe, Larry Stewart, and Hans Desir.

• Ellerbe spent four years at Virginia, starting in 1990. He worked under Jeff Jones, now coach at Old Dominion. He was also the rst African-American Head Coach at Loyola University, Maryland and The University of Michigan.

• Stewart was the Associate Head Coach for the Bowie State men's basketball team where he spent six seasons. He played with the NBA's Bullets, Vancouver Grizzlies and Seattle Super Sonics until 1997. His brother, Stephen, is an assistant coach at Coppin State.

• Desir, a Miami native, joins the Bears staff with over 10 years of coaching experience. he was previously lead assistant coach for J.T. Burton at Motlow College. 

WELCOME TO EAST COLD SPRING LANE
MSU's incoming class features four freshmen and three transfers. The incoming freshmen include 6-foot-4 guard Stanley Davis (Chester, Pa./STEM Academy), 6-foot-8 forward Azariah Sykes (Midlothian, Va./Millwood HS),  6-foot-7 David Syfax (Detroit, Mich./Pershing HS) and 6-foot-10 center Tyjahi Byers(Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS). In addition, MSU welcomes 6-foot-2 guard Isiah Graves(Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City HS), who joins the Bears as a transfer from Southern C.C., Lamar C.C. transfer Tiwian Kendley (Harlem, N.Y./Roosevelt HS)  and Alex Ennis (Ocean, N.J.), a 6-foot-10 transfer from Independence C.C.

LARGEST MARGIN IN WIN
Morgan State posted an 83-43 victory over Coppin State (Feb. 1) for its largest margin of victory of the 2015-16 season, and its largest margin of victory against the Eagles. Prior to the win against Howard, the Bears' previous largest margin of victories had been by five (5) points. On Nov. 21, 2015 the Bears posted their first win of the season with a 59-54 win at Campbell University, and on Jan. 9, 2016 they recorded a 63-58 victory against Delaware State.

NOTABLE DEPARTURE
The Bears will look to replace standout forward Cedric Blossom who statistically ranked among the top players for Morgan State last season.
• He was selected All-MEAC Third Team and completed the 2015-16 regular season ranked No. 10 in the MEAC in scoring (14.9 ppg), ranked No. 7 in field goal shooting percentage (.497), and he also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
• Blossom's selection to the All-MEAC Third-Team marks the eighth time out of 10 seasons under head coach Todd Bozeman that a Morgan State player has been named to the All-MEAC first, second or third team.

• He is currently a member of the Petrolero Argentino basketball team in Argentina.

RETURNING POINTS, REBOUNDS, ASSISTS
• Morgan State returns 43.1 percent of its scoring from a year ago -- 29.0 ppg  out of an average during the 2015-16 season of 67.4 points ... MSU returns 14.4 boards a game from a year ago and that's about 41.0 percent of last year's team average of 35.1 a game.

• When it comes to assists, MSU returns just 144 assists from the total of 349 assists from last season or 41.2 percent returning.

ON DECK
MSU returns home when they host the Florida A&M Rattlers on Monday, Jan. 30. A ceremony recognizing Todd Bozeman's achievement of becoming the school's all-time winningest basketball coach will occur during the pregame. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.