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Game 21
Opponent: North No. 1-seeded Coppin State Eagles (8-11, 7-5)
Date: March 12, 2021
Site: Scope Arena, Norfolk, Va.
Game Time: 6 p.m. EST
Live Stats: here | Live Stream: FloHoops (Charlie Neal and Cy Alexander)
MSU Coaches: MSU - Kevin Broadus (28-23, 2nd yr) • CSU – Juan Dixon (33-84, 4th yr)
Websites: www.MorganStateBears.com | www.coppinstatesports.com

SETTING THE STAGE
• North No. 3-seeded Morgan State battles South No. 1-seeded Coppin State (8-11) Friday night in the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament with a spot in Saturday's finals game on the line. The winner will face the North No. 2-seeded Norfolk State Spartans (15-7).
• Norfolk State beat No. 3-seeded N.C. Central 87-58 In the quarterfinal game on Thursday night. With the win, the Spartans head straight into Saturday's championship game against the winner of Friday's 6 p.m. Coppin State-Morgan State semifinal, as a result of its would-be opponent, North Carolina A&T State, bowing out of tournament play following a positive COVID-19 case within its program.
• The Bears (13-7) rallied to beat South #2-seeded Florida A&M in the MEAC quarterfinals on Thursday night behind a 35-point explosion by junior guard De'Torrion Ware .
•  The Bears and Eagles are meeting for the 99th time in the series overall, for the ninth time in the MEAC Tournament and the first time in the tournament since 2019 (L, 81-71).
• Kevin Broadus enters his second year at the helm of the Morgan State Bears. The Bears won 15 games in his debut season, their most since 2013-14, finished sixth in the MEAC.
• Senior forward Troy Baxter completed the MEAC regular season by averaging 17.1 ppg (No. 1 in MEAC), 4.8 rpg and is shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 36.7 from the three ... He was named to the 2021 All-MEAC First Team and was selected to the All-Defensive Team. 
•  Last season, Troy Baxter had 58 blocked shots (ranked No. 2 in MEAC) in 31 games as a junior ... He currently leads the team with 33 blocks.
• Malik Miller is a jack-of-all-trades for the Bears and finished the MEAC regular season averaging 12.5 ppg (No. 10) and 7.9 rpg (No. 2) ... He was named to the 2021 All-MEAC Second Team and was selected to the All-Defensive Team. 
• Trevor Moore poured in a career-high 27 points and connected on 7-of-12 3-pointers vs. Coppin State (Jan. 17) ... He also had five boards, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
• De'Torrion Ware is coming off the bench averaging 16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg and is shooting 39.3 percent from 3 ... He was named to the 2021 All-MEAC Second Team.
• The Bears have a couple of talented transfers: Cincinnati transfer Trevor Moore; Sharone Wright Jr. (Wake Forest); and De'Torrion Ware (Jacksonville State).
• This year, the MEAC split into Northern and Southern Divisions for basketball, and teams played conference games exclusively within their division.

THE SERIES
• Friday's contest will mark the 98th matchups between the schools ... The Eagles lead the series 62-35.
• Feb. 2, 2021 -- De'Torrion Ware scored 20 points and the Morgan State Bears stormed out of the gates tonight as they jumped out to an early 20-4 lead just barely five minutes into the contest against cross-town rival Coppin State, topping the Eagles 95-82 at the Physical Education Complex Arena Trevor Moore had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Malik Miller recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Lagio Grantsaan added 15 points and 10 boards, while senior Troy Baxter, the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, finished with 15 points four rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Junior guard Sherwyn Devonish pitched in 13 points and six assists.
• Coppin State's last win against the Bears was on January 17, 2021 -- Anthony Tarke scored 21 points with 12 rebounds to lead Coppin State to an 89-79 victory at Hill Field House ... Tarke, who led four Eagles in double-figures, was 5-for-12 from the field and recorded six assists, five steals and three blocked shots ... Junior guard Malik Miller led all scorers with a career-high 30 points (11-18 FG) and had 12 rebounds and four assists for the Bears (6-4, 2-2). Junior Trevor Moore connected on 7-of-12 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 27 points.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES (9-12, 8-4 MEAC)
• Coppin State head coach Juan Dixon (Maryland, '02) enters his fourth 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. This past season, Dixon guided CSU to four Division I non-conference victories (Loyola Chicago, Cornell, James Madison, East Carolina), its most since the 1993-94 season.
• CSU finished the 2020-21 regular season with a 9-12 overall mark and finished with a share of the MEAC Northern Division title by posting an 8-4 record.
• The Eagles were picked to finish fourth of six Northern Division teams in the Preseason Poll which was voted on by the conference's 11 head coaches and sports information directors. DeJuan Clayton and Koby Thomas were named to 2020-21 Men's Basketball Preseason All-MEAC First Team.
• The Eagles have three players averaging in double figures, led by Anthony Tarke, who was recently named both the MEAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Tarke, a 6-6 redshirt senior, redshirt senior forward from Gaithersburg, Md., is averaging 16.4 points (No. 2), 8.4 rebounds (No. 1), 2.7 steals (No. 2), and is shooting 47.4 percent from the field (No. 7).  6-2 guard DeJuan Clayton (Bowie, Md.) is averaging 15.3 points and is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and is dishing out 4.9 assists per game.  Koby Thomas, a 6-6 senior guard/forward, is chipping in 12.4 ppg (No. 11) with 6.2 rpg (No. 6)and Kyle Cardaci is adding 9.7 ppg and is shooting 40.6 percent from the three (No. 6).
• Nendah Tarke was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year and is averaging 9.6 point, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
• CSU finished the MEAC regular season ranked No. 1 in 3-poin field goals made (9.0), No. 1 in defensive rebounds (28.6), No. 2 in steals (8.7), No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (.421), No. 2 in 3-pt field goal percentage (.316), No. 3 in scoring (73.4), No 3 in rebounding offense (36.1), No. 4  in assists (13.0) and No.4 blocked shots (3.2).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE EAGLES
• February 28, 2021 -- Anthony Tarke scored 31 points on 11-of-11 shooting to lead Coppin State's men's basketball team to a 94-74 victory at Delaware State on Sunday night at Memorial Hall. 
• Tarke was one of four Eagles in double figures as DeJuan Clayton recorded 15 points, going over the 1,500 career points total in the process.  Yuat Alok made 5-of-9 field goals and a pair of threes and finished with 14 points.  Nendah Tarke added 13 points and added a season-high nine rebounds and five steals.
• Coppin hit an impressive 55.6% from the floor, including 58.1% in the second half while holding the Hornets to just 38.2% shooting.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEARS
• March 11, 2021 --  De'Torrion Ware dropped 35 points to lead Morgan State past Florida A&M 77-75 in the men's quarterfinal round of the 2021 Air Force Reserve MEAC Basketball Tournament Thursday evening in the Scope Arena.
• Ware went 10-for-17 from the floor and hit seven of his 11 3-pointers. He was the only Bear to score in double figures, and he added six rebounds and a steal. Lagio Grantsaan was Morgan State's leading rebounder with nine.
• But the Rattlers had one more run in them; using a 14-5 run, FAMU cut the lead to 76-75 with nine seconds remaining after Speer hit a pair of free throws. Devonish responded with a free throw of his own three seconds later, and DJ Jones' potential game-winning three went wanting as the buzzer sounded.

RETURNING PRODUCTION NUMBERS 
Morgan State returns 65.7 percent of its scoring, 59.6 percent of its rebounding and 68.5 percent of its minutes played totals from last year's team. The team leaders in field goal percentage (Jamar Brown - .448), three-point percentage (Isaiah Burke, .390), free throw percentage (Lagio Grantsaan, .815), rebounding (Malik Miller - 5.4 rpg), assists (Sherwyn Devonish, 2.2), steals (Malik Miller, 1.0),  blocked shots (Troy Baxter, 1.9). and minutes played (Sherwyn Devonish, 31.7).  Six (5) players who started in at least five (5) games a year ago also return - Devonish (31), Baxter (26), Burke (23 ), Brown (17), Miller (11) and Okafor (8).

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
• Morgan State led the MEAC in scoring by averaging 80.7 points (No. 13 in the nation) thru 19 games of the 2020-21 season.
• The Bears have scored 378 points (75.6 ppg) over the course of their last 5-games.
• They scored a season-high 102 in a home win vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Dec. 1, 2020).
• Thru 31 games of the 2019-20 season, the Bears averaged 70.4 ppg (ranked No. 6 in MEAC) and shot 42.4 percent from the field (ranks No. 5) and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc (No. 10).
• They scored a season-high 112 in a triple overtime thriller vs. Evansville (Nov. 24, 2019).

LET IT FLY
• The Bears are shooting 34.8 percent from beyond the arc and rank No. 2 in the MEAC.
• De'Torrion Ware leads Morgan State with 2.4 3-point field goals per game and is shooting at a 39.3 percent clip. Troy Baxter  is averaging 2.1 3-pointers per game, followed by Trevor Moore's 1.5.
• Lagio Grantsaan is chipping in 1.2 three-point field goals per game, and is shooting a 42.1 percent.
• The Bears connected on a season-high 14 3-pointers vs. Lincoln-Pa. (Dec. 1).
• Morgan State shot a league-best 57.9 percent (11-19) in a road win at Iona (Dec. 8).

GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START 
• The Bears are 8-2 this season when leading at halftime.
• On the flip side, MSU has compiled a 3-4 record in games it is trailing at halftime.
• The Bears' only wins when trailing at halftime came at James Madison (Jan. 3), Coppin State (Jan. 30) and versus #2 Florida A&M in the MEAC quarterfinals (Mar. 11).
• MSU is 2-1 in games when tied at halftime.

FOUR PLAYERS AVERAGING DOUBLE-FIGURES 
The Bears entered the 2021 MEAC Tournament with four players averaging double-digits.
• Senior forward Troy Baxter holds the lead for the team high in points, averaging 17.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 30 blocked shots.
• Junior De'Torrion Ware is averaging 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and is shooting 36.9 percent from beyond the arc ... he recorded a 36-point outing vs. Delaware State (Jan. 24).
• Junior Malik Miller, who exploded for 30 points versus Coppin State (Jan. 17), is the team's third leading scorer averaging 12.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and is shooting 51.4 percent from the field.
• Senior Lagio Grantsaan, who recently scored 21 points with nine boards at Delaware State (March 6), is averaging 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and is shooting 42.9 percent from the three.

PREDICTED TO FINISH SECOND IN THE MEAC
The Morgan State men's basketball team has been tabbed to finish second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Preseason Men's Basketball Northern Division Poll.
• Morgan State was picked to finish second, followed by the Howard Bison, who made a splash in the offseason with the addition of preseason First Team honoree Makur Maker. Coppin State was picked to finish third, while Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore rounded out the division.
• The Bears return four starters from last year's team, bringing back guards  Sherwyn Devonish-Prince, Jr. and Isaiah Burke, along with forwards Baxter and Jamar Brown. Also back is guard Malik Miller and forward Lagio Grantsaan.
• 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.

2021 MEAC TOURNAMENT
The 2021 Air Force Reserve MEAC Basketball Tournament will take place Wednesday through Saturday, March 10-13, at the Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. For more info click here.
Here is the link to all the live stats for the fans and the public throughout the tournament: http://meac.statbroadcast.com


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