Game 22
Opponent: Coppin State Eagles (4-19, 4-4 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, February 2, 2019
Site: PEC Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4 p.m. 
Series Record: Coppin State leads 57-32
Live Stats: coppinstatesports.com
Live Stream: FloHoops.com - here
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM
Coaches: MSU -Todd Bozeman (155-210, 13th yr) • Coppin State - Juan Dixon (9–46, 2nd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State men's basketball team (8-13, 3-5) prepare for a MEAC matchup with cross-town rival Coppin State (7-14, 4-2) on Saturday (Feb. 2) at PEC Arena. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on FloHoops.com. The Bears fell short to Florida A&M, 72-66, at Hill Field House on Saturday.  Coppin State held on to beat Bethune-Cookman 95-91 Monday in Baltimore. 

THE SERIES
• Saturday's contest will mark the 90th matchup between the schools ... The Eagles lead the series 57-32 ... Morgan State has won five of the last six meetings. 
•  Feb. 26, 2018 -- Senior guard Tiwian Kendley scored 27 points and senior forward Phillip Carr had his 14th double-double of the season to help Morgan State cruise to a 69-56 win over Coppin State at Hill Field House. Carr finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. MSU honored Phillip Carr and Tiwian Kendley during a 'Senior Night' ceremony prior to the start of the Bears' contest.
•   Lamar Morgan hit seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Karonn Davis tallied seven of his 22 in overtime and Coppin State defeated Morgan State 80-73 in overtime on January 20 at the PEC. Tiwian Kendley topped the Bears with 26 points, but he made just 10 of 26 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range, and had seven turnovers.

BEAR BITS
• Sophomore guard Kyson Rawls poured in a career-high 21 points off the bench against Bethune-Cookman (Jan. 26). 
• MSU's bench outscored Howard (Jan. 15) by a 40-10 margin.
• Junior forward David Syfax scored a season-high 16 points to help lead the Bears to an overtime win at Howard (Jan. 15)
• Morgan State converted a school record 27-of-27 free throws during its contest versus Lincoln-Pa. (Jan.3).
• Junior guard Stanley Davis recorded career-highs of 28 points and 19 rebounds vs. South Carolina State (Jan. 12).
• The Bears scored 26 points off of 18 turnovers against Binghamton.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Coppin State head coach Juan Dixon (Maryland, '02) enters his second season as the Eagles head coach ... he was named the seventh head coach in Coppin State University men's basketball history on April 26, 2017 ... Dixon comes to Baltimore from the University of the District of Columbia, where he spent a season with the Firebirds women's basketball team in 2016-17.
• Coppin State finished the 2017-18 season with a 5-27 overall mark and finished with a 5-11 record in conference play ... The Eagles were defeated by N.C. Central 60-48 in the first round of the 2018 MEAC Tournament.
• The Eagles have two players averaging in double figures ... Dejuan Clayton, a 6-2 redshirt-sophomore from Bowie (Md..), is averaging 13.5 points, 3.3 assists (ranks No. 9 in MEAC) and is shooting 38 percent from the field . Lamar Morgan, a 6-6 transfer from Mineral Area College, is averaging 11.4 ppg, 4.4 rebounds and is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers per game (No. 5 in MEAC).  Senior 6-7 forward Chad Andrews-Fulton who is averaging 6.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and is shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point territory.  
• Junior 6-5 forward Cedric Council leads the Eagles on the glass by averaging  5.6 rebounds per contest with 24 blocked shots.
• Graduate student Kent Auslander (6-6, 200) is a Herndon (Va.) product who transferred to Coppin State  from the University of Maryland.
• Coppin State is holding its opponents to 77.7 points (No. 9 in MEAC), and ranks No. 11 in the league by averaging 62 points per game.
• The Eagles rank No. 10 in the league by shooting 65.8 percent from the free throw line.
•  Coppin State currently ranks No. 4 in the league in blocked shots (3.3 avg).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE EAGLES
Kent Auslander hit 4 of 4 from 3-point range and scored 17 of his career-high 18 points in the second half to help Coppin State beat Bethune-Cookman 95-91 on Monday night. Justin Steers had 17 points while Lamar Morgan and Dejuan Clayton each scored 15 for Coppin State. Chad Andrews-Fulton finished with eight points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Eagles.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Sophomore LaPri McCray-Pace and freshman Sherwyn Devonish-Prince each scored 12 points in Morgan State's 72-66 loss to Florida A&M at Hill Field House on Monday night in front of a raucous crowd. McCray-Pace also added a season high eight rebounds for the Bears who fell to 3-5 in MEAC play.

AT THE HELM
Todd Bozeman enters his 13thyear at the helm as Morgan State men's head coach. The Bears have participated in six of the last 12 MEAC Tournament championships, captured back-to-back-MEAC Titles, and made appearances in the NIT and two NCAA Tournaments. 

WHO'S OUT
Morgan State's standouts Phillip Carr and guard Tiwian Kendley completed their careers as two of the school's all-time top players. Kendley, a 6-5 guard from Harlem, N.Y., has made his mark as one of the top players in school history. In his senior campaign, Kendleyaveraged 26.1 points per game and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game while also averaging 2.1 steals per game. He is currently a member of the NBA G League's Washington Go-Gos. Carr is one of only seven players to wear the MSU uniform and score over 1,000 points with over 700 rebounds, totals that he accumulated in just three seasons as a Bear. Carr is currently playing for the New York Knicks team's G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.

WHO'S BACK
Back from last season's squad that finished with a 13-19 record are starters Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie, while Stanley Davis Jr. and David Syfax return to the Bears along with a number of contributors off the bench with: Tyler Streeter, LaPri McCray-Pace and Kyson Rawls.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added seven newcomers to the 2018-19 roster: G Ranell Bell; G Malik Miller;  G Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr.; G Isaiah Burke; F Jordan Little;  F Victor Curry; and F Taron Oliver Jr.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 49.6 percent of its scoring, 28.4 percent of its rebounding and 55.1 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Tyler Streeter - .543 ), three-point percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .369), free throw percentage (Antonio Gillespie, .800), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.4 rpg), assists (Martez Cameron, 4.3), steals (Martez Cameron, 1.5),  blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.7). and minutes played (Martez Cameron, 32.6).  Six (6) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Cameron (26), Davis (16), Gillespie (14 ), McCray-Pace(10), Rawls (6) and  Syfax(5).

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 four players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Freshman point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Freshman guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while junior forward TaronOliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Freshman guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep.

BOZEMAN'S RETURNING STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Todd Bozeman coaching staff returns for their fourth season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Ellerbe, Larry Stewart, and Hans Desir.
• Ellerbespent four years at Virginia, starting in 1990. He worked under Jeff Jones, now coach at Old Dominion. He was also the first 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 CoppinState.
• 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 MotlowCollege.

CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The year will open the 2018-19 season with three road matchups, first at Villanova Nov. 6, then at Saint Francis on Nov. 9, followed by DePaul on Nov. 12. The Bears' home-opener will be Nov. 15 versus Lincoln (Pa.), followed by a Nov. 20 date when they host the Naval Academy. The Bears will face Mount St. Mary's at Hill Field House on Nov. 25, and travel to George Mason on Nov. 28.  The Bears will face Virginia on Dec. 3 and will host Binghamton on Dec. 5. MSU will take on Towson on Dec. 8, followed by a matchup with Wilmington (Del.) on Dec. 17. MSU will wrap the month of December at Old Dominion (Dec. 22) and will travel to the west coast for a game at CA-Northridge Dec. 29.

PREDICTED TO FINISH SIXTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced today.  
• The Bears return two starters from last year's team, bringing back senior guards Martez Cameron and Antonio Gillespie. MSU also returns a few talented upperclassmen in senior guard Tyler Streeter and junior guard Stanley Davis and junior forward David Syfax.
• MSU was selected to finish sixth in 2018-19, earning 138 points in the poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors who could not vote for their own team or team members. Bethune-Cookman edged out North Carolina Central for first place honors.
• Seven (7) Bears are back from a team that tied for seventh in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 7-9 in the conference and 13-19 overall. MSU's season ended with a 79-70 loss to North Carolina Central in the MEAC Tournament semifinals.
• The 2018 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 5-10 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

ROLLIN' WITH BAZZ
Junior guard Stanley Davis' 21 points at Howard (Jan. 15, 2019) was the third time this season he has scored 20 or more points...he has led the Bears in scoring six times this season.
• Davis' 28 points vs. South Carolina State (Jan. 12) was a career-high. He also contributed a career-high 19 rebounds and had three assists versus SCSU.
• Davis' previous scoring high was 25 points he recorded at CSUN (Dec. 29, 2018)...he also led the Bears with 15 points (7-14 FG), with seven boards, six assists and a pair of steals vs. Savannah State (1/2/19).
• He has scored in double-figures nine times in 21 games played this season.

DISHING OUT DIMES
MSU senior point guard Martez Cameron led the Bears in assists during the 2017-18 by averaging just over four per game (4.4) in 31 games.
•  Cameron dished out a season-high 6 assists to go along with 13 points and 5 rebounds versus Binghamton (Dec. 5) ... he also had six assists vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Jan. 3) and Savannah State (Jan. 7).
•  Thru 21 games, he's averaging 7.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg and 3.5 apg (ranks No. 8 in MEAC).
•  The Chicago product passed Donte Pretlow (2012-16; 335) to become No. 3 on the school's all-time assists leaderboard currently with 407 assists in 112 career games ... and counting ... currently 36 assists away from becoming the school's all-time leader.
•  The only Bears ahead of Cameron on the all-time assists list are: No. 2 Billy Newton (421) and No. 1 Jason McCoy (442).

ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution offering more than 100 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Morgan State University a National Treasure in 2016, in the latest significant effort towards preserving the rich cultural legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The National Trust and Morgan State University have partnered to develop a preservation plan that stewards the many historic buildings on campus, while planning wisely for the university's future. To learn more about the Morgan State University National Treasure, visit www.savingplaces.org.