Men's Basketball to Host Coppin State on Friday

Friday, December 30

Piscataway, N.J.

8 PM

Rutgers University

Coppin State

Men's Basketball to Host Coppin State on Friday

Dec 27 | Men's Basketball

Rutgers Game Notes Live Stats 2022-23 Media Guide Listen Live on WCBS Watch on BTN

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball returns to action at Jersey Mike's Arena after a week-long holiday break. The team will tip off against Coppin State on Friday night at 8 p.m. on BTN.

ABOUT RUTGERS

Rutgers comes into the game with an 8-4 overall record. The Scarlet Knights, who are 8-1 at home this season, play just their second contest in a 15-day span to close out the non-conference slate in the final days of 2022 ahead of the resumption of Big Ten play in January.

The Scarlet Knights' success has come from an outstanding defense, currently allowing opponents to score just 54.3 points per game.

ON THE AIR

The late game comes as the second half of a doubleheader airing on Big Ten Network, following the Buffalo versus Michigan State game that begins the same day at 6 p.m. Wayne Randazzo and Jerry Dunn have the call on BTN, while Rutgers' radio crew of Jerry Recco and Austin Johnson will be on the air on WCBS 880 AM.

RUTGERS LAST TIME OUT

Rutgers continued its impressive defensive streak at home, holding the ninth consecutive opponent at Jersey Mike's Arena to a new season-low in points with an 85-50 win over Bucknell. Rutgers opened up the game on a 16-4 run and extended their lead to 42-19 to take a commanding advantage that they would never relinquish. Cliff Omoruyi dominated with 17 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Rutgers had a season-low three turnovers.

CHASING 1,000

Rutgers' guard Cam Spencer enters the game just three points shy of 1,000 total points for his career. Spencer scored 848 points over 58 games in three seasons at Loyola (Md.). He has posted 149 points in his first 12 games as a Scarlet Knight.

SEASON-LOWS AT JERSEY MIKES!

All nine opponents at Jersey Mike's Arena this season have scored their season-lows in points against the Scarlet Knights defense (Columbia, Sacred Heart, UMass Lowell, Rider, CCSU, Indiana, Seton Hall, Wake Forest and Bucknell).

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

Rutgers boasts the fourth-best three-point defense in the NCAA, holding opponents to 25.2 percent shooting from behind the arc. RU is also sixth in scoring defense (54.3 ppg), 8th in field goal percentage defense (36.2%) and 11th in steals (10.2 spg). RU leads the Big Ten in turnover margin (+5.0) and turnovers forced (17.5), also ranking in the top-25 nationally in both categories.

STOUT ON DEFENSE

The defense has turned up the pressure this season and currently sixth in the nation and leading the Big Ten in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 54.3 points per game.

Rutgers' current scoring defense is the best mark in the seven seasons under head coach Steve Pikiell, bettering the 62.6 PPG mark of the 2019-20 squad. Rutgers has not finished a season with a scoring defense better than 62.6 PPG since prior to the 2004-05 season.

RU has held all 11 of its opponents to date to point production that is lower than their scoring average entering the game.

RU has held seven of those opponents to a total that is 20+ points below their average and 10 to 10+ points below their average.

Rutgers has held 10 of its 12 opponents to a new season-low in points scored (all but Temple and Miami), and in all nine home games they have held the opponent to a season-low.

AGAINST TOP SCORERS

Rutgers' defense has also been elite at shutting down key scorers for their opposition. A sampling of the opponents who entered the game as the team's leading scorer and were held well below their season average by the Scarlet Knights.

- Damien Dunn (Temple)
Entered: 29.7 PPG
Versus Rutgers: 7 Points

- Tyrese Samuel (Seton Hall)
Entered: 12.0 PPG
Versus Rutgers: 0 Points

- Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest)
Entered: 18.7 PPG
Versus Rutgers: 10 Points

- Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
Entered: 19.2 PPG
Versus Rutgers: 13 Points

HOME COOKING

Rutgers is currently 8-1 at home this season.

Over the past four years, Rutgers home records:

2022-23: 8-1
2021-22: 14-3
2020-21: 10-4
2019-20: 18-1

As such, Rutgers enters the game against Coppin State:

22-4 over the past two seasons at home
32-8 over the past three seasons at home
50-9 over the past four seasons at home

ABOUT COPPIN STATE

Coppin State enters the game at 5-11 following an 83-65 loss Wednesday matchup at Richmond. This marks the second straight RU opponent to play a Wednesday night game at Richmond prior to a Friday game at Jersey Mike's Arena.

The Eagles are led by Sam Sessoms, who joined the team this summer following two seasons in the Big Ten at Penn State. He enters the week fourth nationally at 22.9 points per game, and eight in the nation with 85 assists. He averaged 10.1 points per game in 55 contests with PSU, and recently surpassed 2,000 career points in his five-year NCAA career that began at Binghamton. In three career games against RU, Sessoms has shot 14-of-27 (51.8%) for 13.0 points per game.

Coppin State's head coach, Juan Dixon, earned fame for being Maryland's all-time leading scorer and propelling the team to the 2002 national title as a senior. A First Round NBA Draft choice, he has been at the helm of the Eagles since the 2017-18 season.

THE SERIES

Rutgers and Coppin State will be meeting on Friday for just the second time. The previous meeting came on November 19, 2017, a 64-39 RU win. The fourth game of Steve Pikiell's second game at RU, played in front of a crowd of 3,514, was keyed by a defensive effort that saw Rutgers limit the Eagles to 29.1% shooting. In the shot clock era, Rutgers has held an opponent under 40 points 12 times. Steve Pikiell has been the head coach in 8 of those contests. The Coppin State contest marked the third of those eight under Pikiell at RU. No one on the current RU roster played in the 2017 game against Coppin State.

ALL-TIME SERIES

WITH A WIN

A victory over Coppin State would represent
- A 9-1 home record this season
- A 23-4 home record over the past two seasons
- A 51-9 record at home over the past four seasons
- A 2-0 record in the all-time series against Coppin State.

COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVES

A commitment to the community has been emblematic of Rutgers basketball under Steve Pikiell, with student-athletes community to participating in community service initiatives. The team annually participates in the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk in New York City in memory of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and help benefit first responders and injured service members. The team has also volunteered at events for the Embrace Kids Foundation, Saturdays in Motion and the Rutgers Day School Clinic.

The season, Rutgers held an exhibition contest against Fairfield in partnership with Eric LeGrand in support of the Christopher Reeve Foundation. At the Rutgers Winter Village against Seton Hall, RU held a Holiday Toy Drive to benefit the New Brunswick Public School District pre-schools.

Additionally, senior guard Paul Mulcahy has founded his own charitable foundation. The Grateful4 Foundation has the mission to spread the idea of gratitude and inspire a chain reaction of selfless acts. "Gratitude is an underappreciated and undervalued emotion that we believe is super special because it affects and relates to all people," Mulcahy explained. "No matter someone's age, race or socioeconomic status, we believe that everyone can feel a sense of gratitude. No matter what is going on in someone's life, we believe there is always at least four things to be grateful for. Our goal right now is to spread this message of gratitude with as many people as possible."