Notes and Quotes: KU vs. Coppin St.

Notes and quotes on KU’s matchup with Coppin State Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse while wondering if walk-ons Chase Buford, Brennan Bechard and Jordan Juenemann will score their first points of the season.

CAN WE PLAY TWO?

This is just the second meeting between KU and Coppin State. Kansas defeated the Eagles, 91-69, on Dec. 5, 1994 in Allen Fieldhouse.

SHERRON IS ON

Junior point guard Sherron Collins leads the way for the Jayhawks (3-1). He’s paced the team in scoring in each of the four games. Collins has scored 20-plus points in two games, including a career-high 25 against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 18. Collins, who ranks third in the Big 12 with a 20.0 point scoring average, also leads the team with nine three-pointers, a .409  three-point percentage, 13 free throws, and minutes (34.0). He ranks second on the squad with 3.0 assists per game.

COLE PLAY

Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is emerging as one of the best post players in America. Aldrich, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds against Syracuse on Tuesday, is averaging 14 points (No. 2 on team) and a team-high 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He also has a team-best 28 blocked shots and leads the Big 12 with 3.0 blocks per game.


BRADY JUST DANDY

Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar has been another bright spot early this season. He leads the team with 3.3 assists per game, and his 4.3 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second in the Big 12. He’s averaging 4.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 28 minutes per game, while shooting 77.8 percent from the line.

MORRIS TWINS RISING

Freshmen twins Markieff and Marcus Morris are already making their mark. Markieff averages 7.5 rebounds per game, which rank second on the team and sixth in the Big 12. He’s averaging 5.5 points in 19.8 minutes per game, and is second on the team with five blocks.

Marcus, meanwhile, ranks 14th in the Big 12 with 6.5 boards per game. He’s fourth on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game, while posting four blocks and five steals in 20.8 minutes per contest.

THIS & THAT

*KU’s freshmen represent 37.7 percent of the team’s scoring, followed by sophomores at 35.8 percent and juniors at 26.5 percent. KU’s seniors — Bechard and Matt Kleinmann — have combined for one point.

*Kansas leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 32.8 percent and ranks second in the conference with 7.0 blocked shots per game.

*KU’s 26-game home-winning streak ranks fourth nationally. The Jayhawks’ contest  versus Coppin State begins a six-game home stand with their matchup with Massachusetts on Dec. 13 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

EAGLES IN THE PROS

CSU boast two alumni who played and coached professionally. Stephanie Ready became the first female coach of a men’s professional league, serving as an assistant for the now defunct Greenville Groove of the NBDL in 2001-03.

Larry Stewart, meanwhile, was a former Eagles star forward who played in the NBA with the Seattle SuperSonics and Washington Bullets. His last year in the League was with Seattle in 1996-97. He also played in Greece for Panellinios. Stewart led Coppin State to the 1990 NCAA Tournament, the school’s first appearance in the Big Dance.

JUST CALL HIM “FANG”

Ron “Fang” Mitchell is in his 23rd year as Coppin State head coach. Mitchell, a six-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is the winningest coach in school history (358 career victories). His Eagles won a stare of nine of 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season titles during the 1990s, equaling the most won by any NCAA Division I program the past decade. Mitchell led Coppin State to 11 straight winning seasons from 1988 to 2000.

He has 585 wins as a head coach, including eight seasons at Gloucester County College.