EMU Hosts Coppin State in Pre-Christmas Showdown

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Coming off of its second road win of the 2014-15 campaign, a 77-65 win at Missouri State University, Dec. 20, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team looks to pick up its 10th win of the year Tuesday, Dec. 23, with a victory over Coppin State University. The Eagles (9-2) are off to one of the hottest starts in Eastern Michigan history, while Coppin State (1-9) is riding the proverbial struggle bus winning just one game this year.
Tuesday's game will celebrate the holiday season as the EMU Athletics Department invites you to wear your ugly Christmas sweater while enjoying holiday music and games. Also, the first 500 fans through the gate will receive a FREE holiday hat.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eastern Michigan versus Coppin State contest can be found on both 89.1 FM WEMU and Eagle All-Access. Fans can dial into 89.1 FM or listen over the internet to the smooth sounds of veteran play-by-play voice, Chad Bush. Joining Bush on the call will be analyst Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director Sean Hostetter and on-site producer Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations Greg Steiner.
For those who prefer to watch the game, it will be broadcast on Eastern's live webstreaming service Eagle All-Access. Subscriptions for Eagle All-Access start at just $6.95 and can be purchased at EMUEagles.com/watch. The pregame show and analysis will begin at 6:50 p.m. on Friday evening.

ALL-TIME VERSUS COPPIN STATE: Tuesday's 6 p.m. contest will be first time that the two sets of Eagles will meet on the hardwood.

LIKELY LOOK FOR COPPIN STATE...

#	Name	Pos.	Cl.	Ht.	Wt.	ppg	rpg	apg	Hometown-High School
2	Lawrence Fejokwu	C	Jr.	6-9	260	1.5	2.7	0.4	Lagos, Nigeria-Northwest JC
3	Arnold Fripp	F	Sr.	6-7	210	13.0	5.0	0.2	Brooklyn, N.Y.-Monroe CC
10	Chrstian Kessee	G	So.	6-2	180	8.5	2.2	1.4	Las Vegas, Nev.-Valley
11	Taariq Cephas	G	Sr.	5-10	165	10.8	2.7	3.2	Bear, Del.-Pencarder Charter
24	Sterling Smith	G	Jr.	6-4	185	8.3	4.0	1.5	Chico, Calif.-Redemption Christian

A LOOK AT COPPIN STATE: Coppin State currently holds a 1-9 record on the season and has played two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference contests this season, going 0-2 in those games. CSU has really struggled on the defensive side of the ball, being outscored by 21.8 points per game, while allowing nearly 91 points (90.9 ppg). CSU opponents have been shooting at a 51.8 percent clip, while knocking down 44.8 percent of their three-point shot opportunities. On the offensive side, CSU averages 69.1 points per game while hitting on 37.1 percent of its shots.
   Arnold Fripp leads the CSU offense, averaging 13 points per game, while Taariq Cephas posts 10.8 points per contest.

THE BEST IN 41 YEARS: Since joining the Mid-American Conference prior to the 1974-75 season, EMU squads have won nine non-conference contests in four separate seasons. With their victory on Saturday, Dec. 20, the Eagles moved to 9-2 in non-conference play this season. The nine wins ties the most non-conference wins in a single season since the Green and White entered the Mid-American Conference. Three other EMU squads recorded nine non-conference victories during a single campaign. Those three teams were the 1989-90 team, the 1990-91 squad and the 1996-97 crew. The 1990-91 squad finished the season 26-7, earning a spot in the 1991 NCAA Tournament where it made a run to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the University of North Carolina. With a win on Tuesday, the Green and White will have won the most non-conference wins in EMU history.

PUT IT BEHIND YOU: Sometimes there are those performances that need to be forgotten. Eastern struggled on the offensive end versus Michigan State, Dec. 17. The Eagles were held to just 46 points, the second-lowest of the season, while also shooting a season-low 26.6 percent from the floor. In addition, the Green and White went just 4-for-22 from the three-point line, the second-lowest on the year.

EMU AGAINST THE MEAC: Although Coppin State and Eastern Michigan have never met on the hardwood, the Green and White aren't complete strangers to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents. Eastern holds a 5-2 record against MEAC teams, while Head Coach Rob Murphy is 1-0 against schools from the Norfolk, Va.-based conference.

EASTERN FINDS IT STROKE: The Eagles had struggled on the offensive side of the ball in their road games prior to the 77-65 win over Missouri State. Eastern was shooting 30.5 percent from the floor and 25.4 percent from beyond the arc, while averaging just 51.7 points per game before exploding for 77 points on 51 percent shooting and connecting at a 39.1 percent clip from three-point land. The 51 percent shooting percentage is the second-best mark on the season for the Eagles, while their nine three-pointers were tied for the most in a single game this year.

HE'S BAAAACK: EMU senior Karrington Ward hit quite the four-game slump prior to a breakout performance on Saturday. Through the previous four games, Ward was shooting just 25 percent from the floor and 21.7 percent from beyond the arc. During that stretch, Ward averaged just 8.3 points from the floor. Prior to that shooting slump, Ward had been averaging 15 points per game while connecting on 41.7 percent of his shots.
   The Lockport, Ill. native returned to form versus Missouri State, Dec. 20, when he went for 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.

BOUNCING BACK: Eastern Michigan has lost just two games this season and bounced back from both quite nicely. After a 73-64 setback at the hands of Dayton, Dec. 6, the Eagles came out to top a Big Ten Conference opponent for the first time since Rob Murphy's 2012-13 squad knocked off Purdue with a 45-42 victory over Michigan. Along with that, it was EMU's first win versus Michigan since the 1997-98 campaign. Following its loss to Michigan State, Dec. 17, Eastern Michigan fired back in Springfield, Mo. posting a 77-65 victory at Missouri State.
   The last time that the Green and White lost back-to-back non-conference contests is when Eastern dropped two in a row to NCAA top-10 ranked opponents last year. The Eagles fell 82-59 at No. 9 Duke, Dec. 28 before dropping a 70-48 decision at the hands of No. 2 Syracuse, Dec. 31.

TRYING OUT THE TRIFECTA: It seems as though Eastern Michigan has fallen in love with taking the three-ball this season. The Eagles are attempting 21.9 three-point shots per contest this year. Since Rob Murphy took over prior to the 2011-12 campaign, the Green and White hoisted 15.6 triples per game in his first season, 14.7 in his second season and 16.4 last year. Jodan Price and Karrington Ward have raised from beyond the arc the most for EMU, as the duo is accounting for 10.3 three-point attempts per game. That's 47 percent of the team's three-point tries.

FILLING HIS ROLE: Redshirt-sophomore Jodan Price came into the EMU program known for his three-point shooting ability. The Indianapolis, Ind. native has appeared in all 11 games for the Green and White and has converted on at least one triple try in every contest. Price is averaging 5.5 triple tries per game in his first season of competition at Eastern Michigan.

MID-MAJOR SUCCESS: In the last two seasons, Rob Murphy's squads are 10-0 in non-conference games versus mid-major programs. Eastern looks to make it a perfect 11-0 vs. CSU.

THE MAGIC NUMBER: One could argue that the number 70 is an extremely important one for the Eagles. Eastern Michigan has held teams under 70 points in all but two games this season. This number is important because the Eagles are 7-1 when allowing teams to put up less than 70 on them. When teams have passed that plateau, the Green and White is 1-1.

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Players Mentioned

Jodan Price

Karrington Ward

Eastern Michigan Athletics