Coppin St.-Texas Preview

By foxsports
Published

Texas got eight days off to savor its two impressive victories away from home. Its only break before starting Big 12 play would seem to come in its next game.

Before welcoming a pair of potentially challenging opponents to the Erwin Center, the 13th-ranked Longhorns will host Coppin State on Friday.

Texas (10-2) beat North Carolina 78-76 on Dec. 18 when Cory Joseph hit a turnaround jumper with 1.4 seconds to go, and the Longhorns followed that win by snapping Michigan State's 52-game non-conference home win streak with a 67-55 victory Dec. 22.

"That means a lot," said sophomore Jordan Hamilton, averaging a team-best 19.5 points. "Michigan State is a great program."

Hamilton's 21 points against the Spartans gave him a combined 45 over those two games, and freshman Tristan Thompson added 17 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.

"I did tell the team, 'It's December,'" coach Rick Barnes said. "Hopefully, it'll help us later on."

Barnes' team might need that experience as it opens next month with home games against Arkansas (9-2) on Tuesday and No. 4 Connecticut (10-1) on Jan. 8. Texas travels to Texas Tech three days later to open the conference season.

If the Longhorns can continue making it difficult for other teams to make baskets, they might keep adding to their season-high, four-game win streak. Opponents are shooting 35.8 percent against Texas, and Michigan State converted 29.0 percent of its attempts.

The Longhorns could have another strong defensive performance against the Eagles (4-6), who have lost 20 straight road games and 35 in a row to ranked opponents.

Coppin State, shooting 40.7 percent, will play the finale of a brutal stretch of four straight road games. The Eagles were 22 of 61 (36.1 percent) in a 91-61 defeat to No. 11 Kentucky on Tuesday night after losses to Connecticut on Dec. 20 and Wisconsin on Dec. 23.

Junior guard Tony Gallo was one of three players to score in double figures Tuesday and is averaging 16.3 points over his past seven games. Leading scorer Michael Harper (15.3) sat out with an illness, and his status for Friday's game is unknown.

Texas, 7-0 at home, is seeking its 26th consecutive win there over a non-conference foe.

The Longhorns won 86-50 in their only meeting with Coppin State at the Erwin Center on Nov. 29, 2004. They also defeated the Eagles 82-81 in the second round of the 1997 NCAA tournament.