Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Monday, Dec. 8; 7 p.m.
NSU vs. Coppin State, Joseph Echols Hall
Radio: Star 1310 AM, Live Audio | Hot 91.1 FM, Live Audio
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - After a big win over Morgan State on Saturday, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will host the other MEAC Baltimore school in Coppin State on Monday. Tip-off from Joseph Echols Hall is set for 7 p.m.

Media Coverage
The game will be broadcast live on Star 1310 AM as well as Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Live audio is available through the Star 1310 website as well as through the Hot 91.1 website. Both feeds are available on smartphones through the Star 1310 website or through www.TuneIn.com or the TuneIn Radio App (search for "WNSB") for Hot 91.1. Fans can also follow along with the live stats and the live video feed. The live video feed also carries the radio broadcast.

Series History
NSU owns a 23-11 edge in the all-time series with Coppin State, and the Spartans have won four in a row, two in each of the last two seasons. In fact, 10 of the last 12 meetings have belonged to NSU. To go back even farther, only one of the past 16 meetings between the two programs has been decided by more than 10 points, Norfolk State's 83-71 win last year.

About Coppin State
The Eagles have yet to record a Division I win this year and fell in their MEAC opener to Hampton on Saturday, 71-52. Defense has been its biggest issue, as Coppin State is allowing 87.1 points per game, the worst in the nation. The Eagles also allow teams to shoot 50.5 percent overall and 43.3 percent from 3-point range. CSU also gets outrebounded by 11.4 boards per game, the second-worst mark in the nation. Arnold Fripp (12.0 points) and Taariq Cephas (10.4 points) are the team's leading scorers, shooting close to 42 percent combined. The Eagles as a team hit just 36.4 percent overall. Opponents have taken 63 more free throw attempts in seven games, although CSU does have three less turnovers on the season.

Last Time Out
Led by the junior tandem of Jeff Short and RaShid Gaston, NSU defeated Morgan State 85-65 on Saturday at home in the MEAC opener for both teams. NSU shot 63.3 percent overall (31-of-49), with Short (9-of-10, 24 points) and Gaston (8-of-12, 20 points) leading the way. Gaston also added a double-double with 12 rebounds and led the Spartan effort that finished with a 44-24 edge in points in the paint. A 13-0 run to close the first half gave NSU a 41-29 lead at the break. MSU got as close as eight in the second half, and NSU led by as much as 22. For the game, the Spartans outrebounded the Bears 41-26, although NSU did commit 20 turnovers.

Player Tidbits
RaShid Gaston
 • 19.0 points on 31-41 FG with 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists last 4 games
 • Ninth career double-double, and fourth straight, with 20 points and 12 rebounds vs. Morgan State
 • Career-high 28 points at Hofstra
 • Stands 11th in the nation in double-doubles (4) and 18th in field goal percentage (64.2); Also ranks in offensive rebounds (58, 3.29), rebounding (92, 8.0), scoring (204, 15.0) and defensive rebounds (215, 4.71)
 • Ranks 12th in NSU records with a .549 career shooting percentage

Jeff Short
 • 19.8 points, 30-52 FG, 9-20 3-Pt, 10-12 FT, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists last 4 games
 • 3rd 20-point game of season with 24 points vs. MSU
 • Shot 9-of-10 from the floor, the third-best individual percentage for a game in NSU D-I history
 • Tied career high with four assists at Hofstra
 • 29th in the nation in free-throw percentage (90.6); Also ranks in scoring (93, 17.0), 3-point field goals per game (176, 2.25), field goal percentage (181, 46.8) and minutes (215, 32:26)

Jamel Fuentes
 • 6.0 assists last 4 games
 • Stands 60th in the nation in assists (5.1) and 149th in assist-turnover ratio (2.05)
 • Ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in career assists (455), 14th in assist-turnover ratio (1.91) and 47th in assist average (4.21)
 • Ranks third all-time at NSU in assists with 455 and first among D-I players; Needs 48 more to move into second place
 • Stands tied for 16th in career steals (126)

Malik Thomas
 • 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 28-of-47 field goals, 8-20 3-pointers in 4 games from Nov. 19-28
 • Career-high 21 points vs. St. Francis Brooklyn; Topped previous career best of 20 points set vs. Texas Southern

D'Shon Taylor
 • Career highs of four assists and three steals at Hofstra
 • 16.5 points, 19-of-39 field goals, 25-32 free throws, 5.0 rebounds in 4 games from Nov. 22-29

Hello Again
NSU is certainly familiar with first-year Coppin State head coach Anthony Grant and his get-out-and-run offense. He arrived at CSU from Stillman College, a program the Spartans defeated 105-83 last year on Nov. 26, 2013, in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Pendarvis Williams had 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists. NSU hit 62.1 percent overall for the game.

Good Shootin'
NSU hit 31-of-49 (63.3 percent) against Morgan State, the third-highest percentage in the program's Division I history. The D-I record is 65.7 percent (23-of-35) set against Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 27, 2011, while NSU also shot 64.2 percent (34-of-53) at Coppin State on Jan. 10, 2009. The all-time program record is 69.0 percent (29-of-42), accomplished at Shaw on Feb. 3, 1988.

NSU hit better than 60 percent in both halves against the Bears, the first time shooting better than even 50 percent in both halves since a loss to Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3, 2014. Since the 2002-03 season, NSU has shot better than 60 percent in both stanzas in three games, including the wins over Morgan State and Eastern Kentucky and last year's victory over Stillman.

Nice Win
The 20-point win over Morgan State ranks as the biggest victory against the Bears since an 81-53 triumph on Jan. 16, 2006, a span of 17 games.

NSU's 31 field goals were the most since a win over Coppin State on Jan. 20, 2014, and its 82.6 percent clip from the foul line was the best since hitting 84.6 percent (11-of-13) at Hawai'i on Dec. 30, 2013. Jeff Short (24) and RaShid Gaston (20) both reached the 20-point plateau, the first time NSU teammates did so since the victory over Stillman last year, when Pendarvis Williams (32) and Brandon Goode (22) both scored over 20.

Balanced Scoring?
NSU has four players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Jeff Short (17.0) along with RaShid Gaston (15.0), Malik Thomas (12.9) and D'Shon Taylor (10.8). After those four, though, the next highest scorer is Malik Gray at 3.3 points. Six players having tallied between 1.7 and 3.3 points per contest. A year after losing nearly 80 percent of its scoring from its senior class, NSU is now getting 78.1 percent of its scoring (471-of-603 points) from just four players. The Spartans got 20 bench points against the Bears after posting a combined 14 in the previous three games.

Winning the Rebounding Battle
The Spartans have had the rebounding edge in the last six contests, seven of the nine games this year, and 18 of the last 21 games dating back to last season. NSU is a collective +41 in rebounding margin over the last six games, including a +15 effort against Morgan State. On the season, the Spartans have a +3.9 rebounding margin.

Doubling Up
The Spartans have had a double-double performance in each of the last seven games. More remarkably, they have come from three different players. RaShid Gaston has posted four straight, including a pair of 14-point, 10-rebound performances against St. Francis Brooklyn (Nov. 28) and Saint Peter's (Nov. 29). He then had a career-high 28 points with 10 rebounds at Hofstra (Dec. 2), and 20 points and 12 rebounds against Morgan State (Dec. 6). It marked the first time an NSU player had four straight double-doubles since Kyle O'Quinn had seven straight from Nov. 16-Dec. 3, 2011. Since the 2002-03 season, only O'Quinn and Gaston have had at least four straight double-doubles.

Malik Thomas had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Boston University (Nov. 19) and then 20 and 10 against Texas Southern (Nov. 22). D'Shon Taylor added 19 points and 11 boards at Vanderbilt on Nov. 25.

Specialty Stats
NSU has outscored the other team by an average of 8.1 more points in the paint (28.4-20.3). The Spartans have outscored their last three opponents 96-44 in that category. On the year, NSU has outscored seven of its nine opponents in points in the paint, including the last six.

On the other side, opponents have made more 3-pointers in seven of NSU's nine games.

NSU is also outscoring opponents by an average of 17.1-14.1 in points off turnovers and 11.0-9.2 in second-chance points. In addition, the Spartans are also averaging 7.3 fastbreak points over the last four games.

After setting the Division I record in 2013-14 for fewest turnovers per game at 13.4, NSU is currently averaging 13.9 giveaways per contest this season. The school record for fewest turnovers per game was set in 1987-88 at 13.1. Only four times since 1978-79, when the stat was first kept, has NSU had less than 14 turnovers per game.

Free Throwing
The Spartans finished with their best free throw percentage in 10 years last year at 69.3, the best mark since the 2003-04 campaign (72.0 percent). So far in 2014-15, NSU is connecting on 70.1 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.

Shore Up That 'D'
On the year, the Spartans have had more fouls in eight of the nine games, and opponents have attempted 45 more free throws.

Better After the Break
NSU has scored more points in the second half than the first half in five of the last six games.

Opponents have shot a collective 99-of-210 (47.1 percent) in the first half but 89-of-221 (40.3 percent) in the second half and overtime this season.

Opponents have scored 2.2 more points in the first half than the second half this year, after scoring on average 6.7 more points in the second half last year and 7.5 more points in the second half in 2012-13.

O'Quinn's NBA Season
Kyle O'Quinn is back for his third season with the Orlando Magic after being drafted in the second round in 2012. NSU's first NBA player in 25 years, O'Quinn averaged 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game during his rookie campaign in 2012-13 and 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 assists per game in 2013-14. He missed 15 games this year after injuring his ankle in the season opener. He's averaging 9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks in eight games this season, including a 21-point, 11-rebound effort at Golden State on Dec. 2.