Game 29
Opponent: Coppin State Eagles (6-24, 6-9 MEAC)
Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019
Site: Hill Field House, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 7:30 p.m.
Series Record: CSU leads 58-32
Live Video: here | Live Stats: here
Radio: WEAA, 88.9 FM
Coaches: MSU -Todd Bozeman (156-216, 13th yr) • Coppin State - Juan Dixon (6–24, 1st yr)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (9-19, 4-11) will culminate the regular season with a home matchup against cross-town rival Coppin State on Thursday night. The MEAC foes meet for the second time this season, with the Bears falling 73-71 at Coppin State on Feb. 2. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on FloHoops.com. Morgan State fell short, 78-73, at Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday night. Coppin State (6-24, 6-9) last played on March 2 when they suffered a 72-38 rout  at Norfolk State.

THE SERIES
• Thursday's contest will mark the 91st matchup between the schools ... The Eagles lead the series 58-32 ... Morgan State has won five of the last seven 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.
•   Feb. 2, 2019 - Morgan State freshman guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince scored a game-high 19 points with six rebounds, but Coppin State was able to hold on for a 73-71 win against their cross-town rivals at the Physical Education Complex (PEC). DeJuan Clayton led the Eagles with 16 points and eight assists, while Lamar Morgan added 15 points.

BEAR BITS
• MSU ranks No. 9 in the nation by averaging 17.2 forced turnovers per game.
• MSU ranks No. 16 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (13.2).
• Martez Cameron has 107 assists thru 28 games; he needs just five to become MSU's all-time leader in assists.
• MSU converted a school record 27-of-27 free throws during its contest versus Lincoln-Pa. (Jan. 3).
• MSU's bench outscored Savannah State by a 43-11 margin on Jan. 7, 2019.
• MSU had four players score in double-figures during the Bears matchup versus Norfolk State (Feb. 23).
• Junior forward David Syfax poured in a career-high 18 points with 10 rebounds against Howard (Feb. 25). 

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 14.2 points, 3.6 assists (ranks No. 11 in MEAC) and is shooting 40 percent from the field. Lamar Morgan, a 6-6 transfer from Mineral Area College, is averaging 11.1 ppg, 4.1 rebounds and is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers per game (No. 6 in MEAC).  Senior 6-7 forward Chad Andrews-Fulton who is averaging 6.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and is shooting 31.4 percent from 3-point territory.  
• Junior 6-5 forward Cedric Council leads the Eagles on the glass by averaging  5.7 rebounds per contest with 35 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 76.2 points (No. 7 in MEAC), and ranks No. 10 in the league by averaging 62.5 points per game.
• The Eagles rank No. 10 in the league by shooting 65.7 percent from the free throw line.
•  Coppin State currently ranks No. 6 in the league in blocked shots (3.2 avg).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE EAGLES
Nic Thomas had 16 points as Norfolk State scorched Coppin State 72-38 on Saturday night to claim the MEAC regular-regular season title. Dejuan Clayton led Coppin State (6-24,6-9) with nine points and Chad Andrews-Fulton posted seven points with 11 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT FOR BEARS
Freshman guard Isaiah Burke was a spark as the reserve led the Bears with 17 points, but it was Maryland Eastern Shore that pushed through for victory on Monday night at the Hytche Athletic Center. Bryan Urrutia scored a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds and the Hawks held off Morgan State 78-73. 

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 Taron Oliver, 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.
• Ellerbe spent 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 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.

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.

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Morgan State is averaging 72 points thru 28 games -- ranked No. 6 in scoring in the MEAC.
• They scored a season-high 89 in an overtime win at Howard (Jan. 15) and 87 points in an overtime loss vs. Savannah State (Jan. 7) and had 86 vs. CSUN (Dec. 29).
• MSU was limited to a season-low 45 points in a loss at No. 4 Virginia (Dec. 3).
• The Bears are shooting 39.9 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe.

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 7 assists versus South Carolina State (Feb. 9) ... he also had six assists vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Jan. 3) and Savannah State (Jan. 7).
•  Thru 28 games, he's averaging 7.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 3.9 apg (ranks No. 9 in MEAC).
•  The Chicago product passed Bill Newton (1972-76; 421) to become No. 2 on the school's all-time assists leaderboard currently with 438 assists in 119 career games ... and counting ... currently five (5) assists away from becoming the school's all-time leader.
•  The only Bear ahead of Cameron on the all-time assists list is ... No. 1 Jason McCoy (442).

CLOSE CALLS
After falling 78-73 last Monday (March 4) versus Eastern Shore, Morgan State has played 19 games this season that have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Of those games 17 have been decided by seven points or fewer, including six by three points or fewer. Four of the Bears last six games have been decided by an average margin of 2.3 points with the Coppin State, South Carolina State, Savannah State and Norfolk State games coming down to the final possession. 

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.