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LINKS: Coppin State Comes to Georgetown Before BIG EAST Play

Ewing and Hoyas look to learn, clean up turnovers before conference play

Coppin State v Georgetown Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

The Georgetown Hoyas will host the Coppin State Eagles on Tuesday night in their fourth nonconference game at McDonough Arena. Tipoff is set for 7PM and will be broadcast live on FS1 with Eric Collins and ... Bill Raftery!

The Hoyas can’t look too far ahead to conference play on Friday, but Georgetown really should win this one running away. A heavy dose of feeding the post early, along with defending the perimeter should give the Eagles all they can handle.

If all goes as planned, Hoyas fans may be rewarded by seeing more of the freshmen, including Jamari Sibley, if deemed ready.

Still, if there are struggles, there will likely be more than a few grumblings about problems that reared their head in the Navy loss. With poor play Tuesday, many of the positives demonstrated against WVU would probably be quickly forgotten.

Here are the links:

Georgetown aims to get on track vs. Coppin State | SI

Georgetown (1-2) will look to clean up some areas when it hosts Coppin State on Tuesday in Washington before starting Big East play against Villanova. Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing was happy with the effort against West Virginia, but 15 turnovers and 24 fouls severely damaged the chances of the Hoyas.

“We can’t continue to turn the ball over at this alarming rate. Also, they shot 33 free throws. That’s where the game is — right there,” Ewing said. “If we did a better job of not fouling, and not turning the ball over, everything else was equal.”

Jahvon Blair continued to be the main source of offense for Georgetown, scoring 19 points and draining 5 of 12 shots from 3-point range. Blair is averaging 19.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Jamorko Pickett is contributing 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds and Qudus Wahab is averaging 12.3 points on 61.5 percent shooting and 9.3 boards.

Georgetown Hosts Coppin State Tuesday Night - Georgetown University Athletics | GUHOYAS

Coppin State comes in at 0-3 on the season with losses to George Washington (85-69) and Drexel (69-54) last weekend as well as a 10-point loss to then-No. 9 Duke. The Eagles average 64.7 ppg, while allowing opponents to score 78.3 ppg and shoot 49.7 percent. On the glass, Coppin is pulling down 33.3 rpg while allowing 48.3 rpg. Anthony Tarke is leading CSU with 18.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg. DeJuan Clayton (13.7 ppg), Koby Thomas (10.7) and Domantas Sakickas (10.0) are also in double figures. Clayton has team highs of 10 assists and nine steals.

DeJuan Clayton and Koby Thomas Named to MEAC Men’s Basketball Preseason First Team - Coppin State University Athletics | COPPINSTATESPORTS

[DeJuan] Clayton started in all 31 games last season and averaged 12.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while leading the Eagles with 108 assists and 50 steals. Standing 6-foot-2, Clayton reached double figures in scoring 23 times last season and went for at least 20 points in four different games, including a season-high 23 points at Bethune-Cookman. Clayton is known to get to the line often as evidenced by his 21-point performance in CSU’s historic win at Loyola Chicago where he went 12-of-14 from the charity stripe...

[Koby] Thomas was picked to the Preseason First Team despite not being named to an All-MEAC team after the 2019-20 season. A senior out of Philadelphia, Pa., Thomas averaged a team-high 13.3 points on 47.0% shooting in his first season with the Eagles while ranking sixth in the MEAC with 6.8 rebounds per game. Thomas performed even better in MEAC games as he ranked seventh in the conference with 15.6 points, ninth in rebounds (6.3), eighth in steals per game and tenth in field goal percentage (49.4).

Standing 6-foot-6, Thomas reached double figures in points 24 times last season with three games of at least 20 points. Thomas went for 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting in a win over Howard before going for a career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting in a road win at crosstown rival Morgan State. Prior to Coppin, Thomas played two seasons at Robert Morris University where he was the 2017-18 NEC Rookie of the Year.

Men’s basketball edges out Coppin State for its first win of the season | GWHATCHET

Christian said the Eagles’ three-point defense neutralized the Colonials, forcing them inside for point production. “They really take the three-point shot away from you, so we really had to take advantage in the inside,” he said. “A year ago, I don’t know if we could have won this game on the inside like we were able to finish that ball in the lane.”

But Coppin State’s three-point shooters benefited from GW’s zone defense that left gaps in the perimeter, taking 40 shots from three-point land. The Eagles were only slightly more efficient than GW, hitting 27.5 percent of buckets from beyond the arc. Junior forward Domantas Sakickas sunk 4-of-8 three-point attempts.

Drexel Wins Home Opener against Coppin State, 69-54 - Drexel University Athletics | DREXELDRAGONS

The Eagles came out of the gate with a lot of energy and raced out to a quick 6-0 lead, causing Drexel to call timeout. It didn’t take long for the Dragons to get back on track. With just under 10 minutes to play in the first half, Wynter knocked down a three-pointer to give Drexel the lead. Coppin State would not lead again. The Dragons took a 42-34 lead at intermission. That lead increased to double figures early in the second half and Drexel led by at least 10 points over the last eight minutes as they cruised to the victory.