Saturday
NSU at Coppin State, 4 p.m., Physical Education Complex
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NORFOLK, Va. - NSU will face a two-game weekend against teams the Spartans have already defeated earlier this season at home by double digits. First up is Coppin State on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Physical Education Complex in Baltimore, Md.

Series History
NSU has won the previous three meetings and nine of the past 11 over Coppin State, and the Spartans now have doubled up the Eagles in the all-time series, 22-11. NSU's 83-71 win on Jan. 20 marked the first time either team has won by more than 10 points in the last 15 games dating back to the 2006-07 season.

About Coppin State
The Eagles have a short turnaround after playing at Morgan State on Wednesday, a 78-69 loss to their intra-city nemesis. That dropped CSU to 6-7 in the MEAC and 9-17 overall. The Eagles' biggest downfall this season has been their 38.7 percent shooting clip from the floor, including just 31.5 percent from 3-point range. although they connect on 74.0 percent from the foul line. CSU does average nearly 69 points a game, led by Michael Murray with team highs of 14.4 points and 6.9 rebounds. Both Andre Armstrong (12.4 points) and Sterling Smith (11.2) score in double figures, while Taariq Cephas adds 9.4 points with 4.5 assists. CSU has been outrebounded by nearly four and a half boards per game, and opponents are making better than 47 percent of their shots.

Last Time Out
Hampton went on a 8-1 run to close out regulation and then scored the first seven points of overtime to come away with a 79-73 victory over NSU last Saturday at Joseph Echols Hall. A sellout crowd for the Battle of the Bay saw NSU go into the half up by two before HU responded in the second half. The Spartans had control thanks to an 18-4 run in the latter stages of regulation before the Pirates closed things out. Pendarvis Williams led all scorers with 18 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Brandon Goode added 16 points, 10 boards and six blocks, while Jamel Fuentes (15) and Riley Maye (12) also scored in double figures.

Player Tidbits
Pendarvis Williams
 • 20.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 38.8 minutes last four games
 • 2.4 steals last seven games
 • Fourth in the MEAC in steals at 1.6 and third in minutes played at 34.2
 • Needs 21 more points to reach No. 19 on the all-time scoring list at NSU
 • Needs one more 3-pointer to move into second all-time at NSU
 • 46th nationally among active players with 204 career 3-pointers
 • Shooting 48.4 percent from the floor this year, including 61.3 percent (92-of-150) from inside the arc
 • One of five all-time NSU players with 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals along with Ralph Tally, Barry Mitchell, Tony Murphy and Michael Deloach
 • Needs six more rebounds to reach 500 for his career; would join Tally and Mitchell as only players with 1,400 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals
 • 81.4 percent from the free throw line this season; chasing Division I record of 83.3 percent set by Ryan Grier in 2003-04

Kievyn Lila-St. Rose
 • 3.7 rebounds last three games

Riley Maye
 • Broke out of slump with 12 points on 5-of-7 field goals with two rebounds and two assists against Hampton

Malcolm Hawkins
 • Missed four games due to injury from Feb. 1-15

Brandon Goode
 • 13.0 points on 23-of-35 field goals with 7.8 rebounds in 28.8 minutes last four games
 • Has scored in double figures in 16 of last 21 games
 • Shooting 55-of-85 (64.7 percent) in the last 11 games
 • Ranks fourth in Division I single-season records with 60 blocks and fifth in all-time single-season records
 • Second all-time at NSU with 140 career blocks behind precedssor Kyle O'Quinn
 • Second in the MEAC in field goal percentage at 61.6, fourth in offensive rebounds (2.7) and fifth in rebounding (6.9) and blocks (2.4)
 • 42nd in the nation in blocks (2.40)
 • 61.6 percent shooting currently ranks sixth all-time at NSU in season records and third in Division I era
 • 4th double-double of season with 16 points and 10 boards against Hampton

Jamel Fuentes
 • 12.0 points on 11-of-25 field goals with a 20-4 assist-turnover ratio in 35.3 minutes last three games
 • 2.0 steals last five games
 • 4+ assists last 17 games
 • Needs four more assists to reach fifth place all-time at NSU
 • Sits third in Division I records with 142 assists this year
 • First in the MEAC in assist-turnover ratio (3.0) and second in assists (5.7)
 • 16th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (2.96) and 30th in assists (5.7)

Marese Phelps
 • 7.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.5 steals in 32.0 minutes last two games
 • 2.0 steals last 13 games
 • Fifth in the MEAC in steals at 1.5

MEAC Standings
The last few weeks of the regular season will be a dogfight at the top of the MEAC standings, with four teams vying for the top 3 spots and thus a bye in the MEAC tournament. The Spartans currently stand in fourth place in the standings at 8-3 behind league leader North Carolina Central (11-1). Hampton and Morgan State are tied for second at 9-3, a half game ahead of NSU. Savannah State currently sits in fifth at 7-5.

Jones Accepts 3-Year Contract
Head coach Robert Jones had the interim tag removed from his title after accepting a three-year contract extension this week. Terms and details of the contract are being finalized for approval. His three-year deal would take him through the 2016-17 season.

Jones took over the NSU basketball program this year after the departure of previous coach Anthony Evans. Jones spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the program under Evans before being elevated to the top spot.

Mistake-Free Ball
NSU is currently averaging just 12.8 turnovers per game. Should that hold up, it would mark a school record for fewest turnovers per game since the stat was first kept in 1978-79. The program record is 13.1 per game in 1987-88. In fact, only three times has NSU even had less than 14 turnovers a game: 1987-88, 1995-96 (13.4) and 1989-90 (13.9).

Coughing Up the Ball
Over the last five games, NSU is averaging 8.2 steals and opponents are turning the ball over 15.4 times a game. Howard committed 24 turnovers on Feb. 10, the most giveaways by an NSU opponent since Morgan State had 29 on Jan. 21, 2013.

Conference Streak
With eight MEAC wins so far this year, NSU is guaranteed to finish no worse than .500 in conference play. Since moving to Division I in 1997, the Spartans have yet to finish worse than .500 in the MEAC. In fact, since the 1953-54 season, NSU has finished with a losing conference record just once (9-10 in 1990-91) in 58 seasons (not counting the independent 1997-98 and 1961-62 seasons).

Winning Record
NSU needs just two more wins to guarantee itself an overall winning record on the year. It would mark the third year in a row and just the fifth time the Spartans have done so since moving to Division I in 1997-98.

Get on the Glass
NSU has been even or had the edge in the rebounding column in seven of the last 10 games.

Senior Leadership
NSU has scored 1,855 points this year, with 1,472 of those points (79.4 percent) coming from NSU's senior class.

Spartans in the MEAC
NSU is 8-3 this year in the MEAC and 37-6 (86.0 winning percentage) since the start of the 2011-12 season.

Dominating the Inside
Norfolk State has outscored opponents 858-665 in points in the paint, an average of 7.7 points per game. Against Coppin State, the Spartans had a 46-16 edge, while NSU has also outscored East Carolina (50-16) and Stillman (62-26) by large margins. On the flip side, opponents have taken 138 more 3-pointers than NSU this year (5.5 per game).

Good Shootin'
As a team, the Spartans are shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from 3-point range this year, the best marks in a season since 1998-99 (48.1 percent) and 2006-07 (34.7 percent), respectively. They are also hitting 51.5 percent from inside the arc.

Scoring Offense
NSU's is scoring 74.2 points per game this year, the highest scoring season since averaging 76.0 per game in 1999-2000, and eight points more per game than last year (66.3).

Nationally Ranked
The Spartans rank 44th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 12.96. They also stand in the top 100 in scoring (56th, 46.8), assists (75th, 14.2) and scoring offense (95th, 74.2).

MEAC Rankings
NSU ranks first in the MEAC in scoring offense (74.2), field goal percentage (46.8) and offensive rebound percentage (37.6). The Spartans also stand second in 3-point field goal percentage (34.3), opponent rebounding (33.5), rebounding margin (+2.1), assists (14.2) and assist-turnover ratio (1.1) and third in scoring margin (+1.4).