Morgan State Notes  |  Coppin State Notes  |  MEAC Notes (PDF)  |   Purchase Tickets |   GAMEDAYGuide  
 Facebook.com/MorganStateBears   |    @MorganStBears

Game 21
Opponent: Coppin State (5-15, 1-4 MEAC)
Date: Saturday, January 25, 2020
Site:  PEC Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Game Time: 4 p.m. EST
Listen: Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN.com) 
Live Stream: here
Live Stats: here
MSU Coaches: MSU - Kevin Broadus (9-12, 1st yr) • CSU - Juan Dixon (18-67, 3rd yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
Morgan State (9-12, 3-3) prepares for a MEAC matchup with cross-town rival Coppin State (5-15, 1-4) on Saturday (Jan. 25) at PEC Arena. Game time is slated for 4 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on coppinstatesports.com. The Bears fell short to N.C. A&T, 76-70, at Hill Field House on Monday.  Coppin State's last game was a 79-75 upset victory against N.C. A&T on Jan. 18 in Baltimore. 

THE SERIES
• Saturday's contest will mark the 93rd matchup between the schools ... The Eagles lead the series 60-32 ... Morgan State was has won five of the last nine meetings, but have lost in the last three 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.
•   March 12, 2019 - Coppin State's Dejuan Clayton scored a game-high 23 points to give the 7th-seeded Eagles an 81-71 win over No. 10 seed Morgan State  in opening round action of the 2019 MEAC Basketball Tournament at the Norfolk Scope Arena. The Bears were paced by freshman Sherwyn Devonish-Prince who finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 34 minutes of action.Stanley Davis had 12 points and six boards, while Isaiah Burke added 11 points and David Syfax contributed 10 points.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Coppin State head coach Juan Dixon (Maryland, '02) enters his third 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.
• Coppin State finished the 2018-19 season with a 8-25 overall mark and finished with a 7-9 record in conference play ... The Eagles were defeated by N.C. A&T, 82-79 OT, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 MEAC Tournament.
• The Eagles have three players averaging in double figures led by Dejuan Clayton, a 6-2 Bowie product, who is averaging 12.5 ppg, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists (ranks No. 5 in MEAC).
• Andrew and Aaron Robinson are twins and transferred from Quinnipiac ... Andrew (6-7) is averaging 12.3 points and 5.4 rebounds, while Aaron (6-6) is averaging 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds ... Older brother, Billy Edelin, played basketball at Syracuse, where he won a national title before playing professionally in Belgium.
• Junior 6-6 swingman Kobe Thomas leads the Eagles on the glass by averaging  7.2 rebounds per contest (ranks No. 5 in MEAC) with 25 steals.
• Coppin State is holding its opponents to 77.2 points (No. 9 in MEAC), and ranks No. 8 in the league by averaging 67.8 points per game.
• The Eagles rank No. 10 in the league by shooting 62.8 percent from the free throw line.
•  Coppin State currently ranks No. 2 in the league in turnover margin (+1.40 avg).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE EAGLES
• Brendan Medley-Bacon registered career-highs 19 points and 14 rebounds to go with four blocks to lead the Coppin State to a come-from-behind 79-75 MEAC victory over N.C. A&T Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena.
• Medley-Bacon notched a double-double with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while making 5-of-6 free throws.  The 7-foot-1 center also pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds (six offensive) to go with four blocks and a pair of assists in a team-high 38 minutes of action.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARS
• Kameron Langley scored a game-high 22 points to lead the North Carolina A&T to a 76-70 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win against the Morgan State on Monday night inside Hill Field House.
• Morgan State (9-12, 3-3) senior Stanley Davis had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Junior Troy Baxter scored 14 points with five blocks, Junior Kyson Rawls added 12 points and sophomore Malik Miller chipped in 10 points with six rebounds and four assists.
 • Morgan State shot 1 for 6 from the free-throw line with three minutes remaining and had chances to tie and take their first lead of the game. As a team, Morgan State shot 34 percent from the floor and 55 percent (16-29) from the free throw line.

CLOSE CALLS
• The Bears have started the 2019-20 season with a 2-5 record in games decided by 10 points or fewer, with a 71-65 loss to Saint Francis, followed by a 68-64 win at George Washington, and two close losses in The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase vs Milwaukee (62-57) and Evansville (115-112 3OT). The Bears posted a 74-71 win at Loyola Marymount and fell to Bethune-Cookman 85-78 and N.C. A&T 76-70.
• After falling 81-71 on March 12 versus #7 seed Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament, Morgan State played 21 games during the 2019-20 season that was decided by 10 points or fewer. Of those games 17 were decided by seven points or fewer, including six by three points or fewer.

BEAR NOTES: 
Morgan State is shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 27.9 percent from beyond the arc; the Bears shot a season-high 52 percent (25-48) from the field vs. Longwood (Dec. 7) ... Stanley Davis currently leads the Bears averaging 13.9 points (No. 5 in MEAC), 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists, including a 21-points (8-15 FG) with nine rebounds in 29 minutes versus N.C. A&T (Jan. 20) … Troy Baxter  is averaging 5.7 rebounds and has 38 blocked shots (ranks No. 1 in MEAC), including a 5 blocks in his season debut vs. N.C. A&T (Jan. 20) … Sherwyn Devonish-Prince has scored in double figures in 15 of 20 games and is averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 32.6 minutes per game ... David Syfax is shooting 46.4 percent from the field and is averaging 7.1 points with 4.0 boards.

AT THE CHARITY LINE
Morgan State is currently shooting 70.4 percent (335-476; ranks No. 5 in MEAC) from the stripe, led by  Stanley Davis is shooting 80.6 percent (79-98; ranks No. 5 in MEAC), Lagio Grantsaan 78.6 percent (11-14) and Kyson Rawls who is shooting 80.6 percent (25-31).
• The Bears completed the 2018-19 season ranked No. 4 in the conference in free throw percentage by shooting 71.3 percent (477-669) from the line. 
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince led the MEAC by shooting 86.6 percent (97-112 FT), followed by Kyson Rawls who shot 82.1 percent from the line
(64-78; No. 5) and Stanley Davis is shooting 79.8 percent from the line (79-99; No. 9).
• Morgan State is ranked seventh in the nation in free throws made with 335 made.

DAVIS CHASIN' 1,000
Senior guard Stanley Davis needs 77 points to reach 1,000 points for his Morgan State career. 
• Following his 21-point effort against N.C. A&T (Jan. 20), he currently has 923 points in 103 game played.

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED 
Morgan State is 3-6 on the road this season, after going 2-13 on the road during the 2018-19 season. The last time MSU finished over .500 on the road (12-7) was during the 2010 season.

NON-CONFERENCE RECAP 
Morgan State went 6-9 in non-conference play, the most non-conference wins since a 2017-18 season in which the Bears held a 6-10 non-conference mark. Prior to that, MSU had not won at least six non-conference games since the 2012-13 season (7-9). 
• MSU played seven teams that are .500 or better and five of its opponents have won eight or more games. 
• MSU went 4-2 at home, 2-4 in road games and 0-3 in neutral site games.

40-AND-OVER CLUB
Six of Morgan State's primary shooting threats are at 40 percent or better from the field, led by Stanley Davis who is 102-for-210 (48.6% - ranks 9^th in MEAC) from the floor; David Syfax (58-for-125) is at 46.4 percent; Isaiah Burke (68-for-163) is at 41.7 percent; Troy Baxter (81-for-198) is at 40.9 percent; Lagio Grantsaan (40-98) is at 40.8 percent and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince (83-for-206) is at 40.3 percent.

WHO'S OUT
Tyler Streeter (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales HS), Antonio Gillespie (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis Central HS) and Martez Cameron (Chicago, Ill./Montverde Academy) wrapped up their collegiate careers and graduated last spring.

WHO'S BACK
The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.

WHO'S IN 
The Bears have added several newcomers to the 2019-20 roster: F Troy Baxter; F Victor Okafor; G Thai're Vance; F Lagio Grantsaan; F Peter Sorber; G Cameron Shaw; F Jamar Brown.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 75.6 percent of its scoring, 67.8 percent of its rebounding and 69.0 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Stanley Davis - .454 ), three-point percentage (Isaiah Burke, .370), free throw percentage (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., .866), rebounding (David Syfax - 4.6 rpg), assists (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 2.2), steals (Stanley Davis, 1.1),  blocked shots (David Syfax, 0.6). and minutes played (Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr., 28.0).  Five (5) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Devonish (30), Davis (25), Syfax (17 ), Curry (9), and McCray-Pace (8).

HOME GROWN 
Morgan State has seven players from the DMV (D.C., Maryland & Metropolitan-D.C.) area. Sophomore point guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is from Bladensburg, Md. and graduated from Wise HS. Sophomore guard Isaiah Burke is from Annapolis and was a prep standout at Bowie HS, while senior forward Taron Oliver, Jr. played for Montrose Christian and is from District Heights, Md. Sophomore guard Malik Miller hails from Washington, D.C. and played at Friendship Tech Prep. Junior forward Victor Okafor is from Greenbelt, Md. and played at Eleanor Roosevelt HS. Freshman guard Thai're Vance is a product of Silver Spring, Md. and played at DeMatha Catholic HS. Cameron Shaw is a freshman guard from Baltimore who played at Loyola Blakefield HS.

BROADUS' STAFF
Morgan State head basketball coach Kevin Broadus' coaching staff enters their first season. The Bears coaching staff consists of assistant coaches Brian Merritt, Chretien Lukusa and Kevin Jones.
• Merritt  joins the Bears after serving the last two seasons as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations at LSU. Merritt, a native of St. Mary's County, Maryland, joined LSU prior to the 2017-18 season after serving as Director of Scouting/Recruiting for John Lucas Enterprises.
• Lukusa was previously spent five years on Binghamton's staff, including a pair of seasons on the coaching side. A 2011 Binghamton graduate who also earned his master's degree at the University, Lukusa returned to the program in 2014. After serving two seasons as the coordinator of player development, Lukusa earned a promotion to assistant coach in Summer 2016. 
• Jones was previously the assistant director of basketball operations and video coordinator at Radford University (2018-19) where he oversaw all things video and technology. Prior to Radford, Jones was an assistant coach at Norfolk State (2015-18) where he helped guide the Spartans to back-to-back second-place finishes in the MEAC and coached three All-MEAC guards.

THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The Bears will play three nonconference games against teams that made the NCAA tournament last season, including Temple (Nov. 9 in the road opener), Liberty (Nov. 22 in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase) and Ohio State (Nov. 29). There's a Nov. 16 trip to George Washington to get the Bears a nonconference game in Washington, and the annual showdown with crosstown foe Towson is Dec. 4 at Hill Field House.

PREDICTED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish eigth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll the league announced.
• The Bears return three starters from last year's team, bringing back guards Stanley Davis and Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr and forward David Syfax. MSU also returns guards Isaiah Burke, Kyson Rawls, and Malik Miller, along with forwards LaPri McCray-Pace, Victor Curry and Malik Miller.  
•MSU was selected to finish eighth in 2019-20, earning 101 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. North Carolina Central (203 points), who captured its third straight MEAC Tournament championship last season, edged out Bethune-Cookman (198 points) for first place honors, followed by defending regular-season champion Norfolk State.
• Eight (8) Bears are back from a team that placed 10th in the MEAC. Morgan State finished the year 6-7 in the conference and 9-21 overall. MSU's season ended with an 81-71 loss to Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament first round.
• The 2020 MEAC Basketball Tournament tips off March 10-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.  For more information about the MEAC and its sponsored sports, log on to www.MEACSports.com.

PRESEASON ALL-MEAC SELECTIONS
The Morgan State men's basketball team had a pair of Bears selected to the 2019-20 Preseason All-MEAC Team. Senior guard Stanley Davis was selected to the Second Team, while sophomore guard Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. was named to the Third Team.
• The most proven player on the roster is senior Stanley Davis, who led Morgan State in both scoring (12.5 per game) and rebounding (7.1). The latter number ranked seventh in the MEAC last season.
• Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. earned a place on the MEAC All-Rookie team by averaging 10.7 points as a true freshman.

BEARS TO HONOR ELIJAH CUMMINGS THROUGHOUT 2019-20 SEASON
Throughout the 2019-20 season, the Morgan State Bears student-athletes will celebrate the life of longtime Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings, who passed away on October 17, 2019, at the age of 68. In honor of Congressman Cummings and all of his many positive contributions to the University and his district, all Morgan State athletic teams will wear a special commemorative "EC" patch on their jerseys throughout the season. The Bears football team helmets will also be adorned with an EC decal.
• "Our department wanted to do something to recognize the many important contributions of the Honorable Elijah Cummings to the country, the City of Baltimore and Morgan State University," said Director of Athletics Edward Scott, Ph.D. "In speaking with our student-athletes, coaches and staff, we felt that the patches and decals would be the most appropriate way of demonstrating our appreciation to Regent Cummings and his family."
• The patch is a black circle with the initials "EC" in the center in orange letters and outlined in white. 
• Congressman Cummings has a long history with Morgan State University and over the years has been one of its most staunch supporters. In addition to hosting many of his youth workshops and annual career fairs at Morgan, he also served on the University's Board of Regents for 19 years after having been appointed in July 1999 (he missed one year due to other commitments at the time).

MORGAN STATE 'GRIT'
The Morgan State athletic department has adopted the slogan GRIT for the 2019-20 athletic campaign. GRIT, which stands for Growth, Resiliency, Integrity and Teamwork, was introduced by Morgan State Director of Athletics Dr. Edward Scott at the start of the Fall semester. GRIT will define all 15 of Morgan State's athletic teams on and off the field of play this season.

2020 MEAC TOURNAMENT
The 2020 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball tournament is scheduled for March 9-14 at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. Ticket books can be purchased at all 12 MEAC university ticket offices, the Norfolk Scope Arena, Ticketmaster outlets, the MEAC Administrative Office and online at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available by calling the MEAC at 757-951-2055 or Ticketmaster at (800)-745-3000. The annual MEAC Basketball Tournament moved to Norfolk in 2013 after spending the previous four years in Winston-Salem, N.C. from 2009 through 2012.

FOLLOW US IN CYBERSPACE 
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more. 
• Follow us on social media:

            Facebook: /MorganStateBears
            Twitter: @MorganStBears
            Instagram: /MorganStateBears

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.