Oklahoma Basketball Entertains Coppin State Friday

Norman, Oklahoma - Oklahoma plays its second of two straight home games to open the season when it hosts Coppin State on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are coming off a 78-74 win over Idaho State last Friday while the Eagles have split their first two games against Cheyney University (won 80-65 last Friday) and Loyola Maryland (lost 78-68 Monday). Friday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City; KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck announcing. The game will be televised by the Sooner Sports Network (KAUT Ch. 43 in OKC; FS Oklahoma outside of OKC market; ESPN Full Court) with Bob Carpenter and Billy Tubbs calling the action.

Date & Tip Time	Friday, Nov. 18, at 7:07 p.m. CT
Location	Norman, Okla. |

TV	Sooner Sports Network KAUT Ch. 43 in Oklahoma City  FS Oklahoma (outside of Oklahoma City market)  ESPN Full Court
Radio	Sooner Radio Network  KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City  KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa
Webcast	SoonerSports.com All-Access
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

Located in Baltimore, Md., Coppin State is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and finished 16-14 last year with an 11-5 league record (tied for second place). The Eagles return 10 letterwinners and four starters from that squad, and are picked third out of 13 teams in the preseason MEAC poll.

Leading the way for Coppin State through two games (an 80-65 home win over Cheyney University and a 78-68 road loss to Loyola Maryland) is senior guard Tony Gallo. One of four returning players who averaged double figures in scoring last year, Gallo is averaging 20.0 points and 2.5 assists this season. He has already made seven 3-pointers (.389) and is coming off a 23-point effort at Loyola Maryland. Senior guard Akeem Ellis is averaging 14.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game and turned in a 13-point, 6-rebound, 9-assist performance at Loyola Maryland. Michael Harper, another senior guard, is contributing 12.5 points per contest off the bench on .692 field goal shooting (9-for-13). Harper was a second-team all-conference selection last year when he averaged a team-high 15.2 points per game and led the league in 3-point (.438) and free throw (.881) percentage.

The Eagles are under the direction of head coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell, who is 396-358 (.525) over his 25 years, all at Coppin State.

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Courtesy OUAthletics

Coppin State finds Wrong Gym

Coach Fang Mitchell plays 66% of Eagle games on the road

Since he has been at Coppin State, Coach Fang Mitchell has played 66 percent of his games on the road - half the MEAC games and practically all the nonconference games when his team collects guarantees to play the big boys in their arenas.

Amazingly, Coppin had never shown up at the wrong gym - until last week. Even though it was supposed to play UConn in Hartford on Dec. 20, the team was instructed to show up in Storrs the night before to practice, according to Mitchell. The gym was closed.

Eventually, Coppin got inside. They had one ball for half-an-hour. Eventually, they got enough balls to conduct a practice. And played the game the next night at the XL Center in Hartford. Coppin lost, 76-64, not a bad result against a really good team.

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