The Coppin State Eagles and the East Carolina Pirates meet Sunday in college basketball action from Minges Coliseum. Coppin State is 4-7 overall this year. The Eagles lost to NC State in their last game. As for East Carolina, they’re 6-4 and fresh off a loss to UNC Wilmington. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Coppin State went 3-3 over their first six games this year, taking wins against Mount St. Mary’s, Navy and Tennessee Tech. The Eagles have since gone 1-4 with losses to Towson, Maryland, UMBC and NC State.
In the NC State game back on Tuesday, the Eagles trailed 49-32 by the break. Coppin State didn’t get any closer in a 94-72 loss. Sam Sessoms was the top team scorer with 24 points, nine assists and three rebounds.
Over on the East Carolina side, they hit a 5-1 run to open the year with a lone loss to Indiana State as the blemish. The Pirates have since gone just 1-3 however, falling to Old Dominion, SC State and UNC Wilmington.
In the UNC Wilmington matchup, the Pirates scored just 24 points in the first half. East Carolina posted a 38-37 deficit in the second and lost 74-61. Javon Small was the leading team scorer with 19 points, and Ezra Ausar added 12 points.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with East Carolina. The Pirates haven’t been playing all that well lately, and they need a nice bounce-back after the UNCW loss. East Carolina shot 40.7 percent from the field in that one, but they were just 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range and 11-of-25 (44 percent) from the line. The Pirates have generally scored well this season however, so if they can get off to a good start I like ECU to cover. Coppin State has hit 72 or more points in four straight games however, so this one should be interesting.